Serena withdraws as Stosur dumped out

Wed, 04 Jan 10:50:00 2012

Former world number one Serena Williams suffered an injury scare less than two weeks ahead of the Australian Open after the American was forced out of the Brisbane International with a badly twisted ankle.

Serena Williams of the United States collapses after twisting her left ankle in her match against Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia during the Brisbane International tennis tournament in Brisbane, Australia, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012. - 0

There was also bad news for home favourite and top seed Samantha Stosur, who was bundled out early for the second successive year.

Williams twisted her left ankle late in her second round match against Serbia's Bojana Jovanovski and needed about 10 minutes of treatment, including having her ankle restrapped, before she went on to secure a 6-2 6-4 victory.

The American had scans on the ankle later on Wednesday, which confirmed she would need to withdraw from the tournament.

She had been due to meet Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova in the quarter-finals and the injury will now create some doubt as to whether the 30-year-old will be in top form as she attempts to win her sixth Australian Open title at Melbourne Park.

"I'm disappointed to have to pull out of the Brisbane International," Williams said. "I have been to hospital and it has been confirmed that I have a left ankle sprain that I probably shouldn't play on.

"I'm going to take a couple of days off, not too many, and see how I feel.

"I'm still hopeful of playing the Australian Open."

The first Grand Slam tournament of the season starts on January 16.

Stosur, who beat Williams in the US Open final last year to claim her maiden Slam title, continued her poor run of form in her hometown losing 6-4 6-2 to Czech Iveta Benesova.

It was the second successive year the world number six has been the top seed at Brisbane and lost in the second round. Last year, she lost to compatriot Jarmila Gajdosova.

"Hopefully it was just a bad day and I will bounce back next week and the week after," Stosur said. "Of course it's disappointing. I never wanted to go out in this round again. I don't want to dwell on it.

"It's back to the practise court and keep working hard and do whatever I can to set up myself up for the [Australian] summer.

"It's not the ideal start but I am not going to panic and think it's all lost."

Benesova, who had never beaten Stosur in their previous four meetings, will now meet Australian Open champion Kim Clijsters in the quarter-finals.

In the other game of the day, seventh seed Kaia Kanepi brushed aside Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-0 6-3.

WTA Brisbane : Round 2

Reuters

Comment 58 - 77 of 77

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  1. Her so called charitable institutions are all a sham­ and is used as a status symbol. I'm aware of­ Agassi's and Graf's charitable foundation as­ everyone in the US and the world is but it seems that­ you fanatics are the only ones who are aware of­ Serena's charity work. That says it all/.

    May I­ draw your attention to the fact that Agassi's­ Foundation caters for youngsters of every background­ hue and colour. I presume Serena's charity is­ solely for the black kids. Sheesh what a RACIST; just­ like her die hard fans.

    From Peter, on Fri 6 Jan 9:56
  2. Honeybeecroft,

    What about the person who said­ "Serena doesn't make excuses"? I'm­ also waiting for the names of her "WORLD RENOWNED­ SPECIALISTS". Looks like you and Smoke are like­ two peas in a pod; very good at avoiding the questions­ and issues which you do not have answers­ too.

    Regarding her twisted ankle. This is not the­ first time she has done this. Acting you call that­ acting? My 3 year old niece would put her to shame.­

    Anyway the saying goes "SERENA FOOLED YOU­ FANATICS ONCE; SHAME ON HER" "SHE FOOLED­ YOU TWICE SHAME ON YOU". When it comes to 3 or 4­ times; I'm at a loss for words.

    From Peter, on Fri 6 Jan 9:51
  3. honeybeecro7

    Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

    From Smoke, on Fri 6 Jan 0:15
  4. Smoke-don't even bother.Peter,khartojing,John are­ the same person posting under several names because­ people just ignored him for months while he posted­ under the old name because of his nasty comments.He­ gave himself away with several things he used to say­ under his last name so best thing is to ignore him­ because there is no reasoning with him,no common sense­ or arguments will work.

    From honeybeecro7, on Thu 5 Jan 21:22
  5. Peter(khartongjin,John) now it's a bad thing she is­ building a third school in Kenya to help those children­ out because there weren't any schools there in­ those area.And she does of course help kids and people­ in her own country-she has Serena Williams Foundation­ which gives young people in the USA schoolarship for­ college/university of their choice for 4 years!!!!Well­ you have actually given Serena a compliment by saying­ she is acting that she twisted her ankle-she is the­ world's best actress in that case,Meryl Streep and­ likes better step aside because that must be the best­ performance in acting ever.Anyone can see(anyone who is­ normal and can see) that she twisted her ankle but no­ you claim she is faking it-please don't make­ yourself even more ridiculous than you already are if­ you want people to take you seriously-which they­ don't.I have ignored you while you posted under­ other name/names and after discovering who you really­ are and that you post under several names thanks to­ your blunder most superb I will ignore you while­ posting under these names as well.

    From honeybeecro7, on Thu 5 Jan 21:15
  6. Peter

    Your comment - "I have no time for­ has-beens. Don't keep spouting­ their past. There­ are a lot of better players like­ Steffi, Evert, Court­ etc if you want to go digging in­ the distant past. The­ difference is those knew whe their time was­ up..."

    Here are the facts you missed -

    1.­ Margaret Court retired at the age of 35. She won 3 more­ Grand Slams when she was 30 yrs or above.

    2. Chris­ Ever retired at the age of 34. She won the French Open­ when she was 30 yrs old.

    3. Stefi Graf was 30 yrs old­ when she played in the 1999 Wimbledon Finals against­ Lindsay Davenport.

    The point is the players (Graf,­ Evert and Court) you used as reference as to­ "knowing when their time was up" played on or­ past the age of 30 and won Slams in the procees. Your­ references only contradicts you. At age 30, Serena­ still has the game to win more Slam as she was a­ finalist at the 2011 US Open after 11 months away from­ tennis.

    From Smoke, on Thu 5 Jan 20:50
  7. The person who said that the Willums do not make­ excuses has made the "MOTHER OF ALL IGNORANT­ COMMENTS"

    From Peter, on Thu 5 Jan 19:24
  8. I've seen the so-called video and I also know bad­ ACTING when I see it. It was worse than a B-Rated­ movie.

    From Peter, on Thu 5 Jan 19:20
  9. The Williams dont make excuses. LOL. Cut foot,­ blood clot, hovering at death's door, syndromes,­ racist officials, racist spectators.

    If those are NOT­ EXCUSES; what are they. You might be able to convince­ your idiot fanatics but most of the people on this­ forum will see you as the LIAR and CON MAN you­ are.

    Now what else have you got to say. I'm­ eagerly waiting in anticipation for another of your­ inane statements.

    From Peter, on Thu 5 Jan 19:19
  10. honeybeecro7

    I agree that there are certain people­ here who do post RACIST and Ignorant comments for the­ sake of STICKING it to the FANS of opposing teams.

    But­ as you can see from webbski's &­ Federernadalroddick Serenavenus comments, it comes­ from BOTH camps.

    So rather than ENJOYING the TENNIS,­ people use this forum to venge their frustrations on­ each other.

    I DON'T like Serena, never pretended­ to.
    I don't like her attitude, her manners, her­ comments, her disrespect of officials & other­ peers, her gamesmanship, her arrogance, I don't­ even like her game style.
    She has a Very POOR PUBLIC­ IMAGE and she only has herself to blame.

    She's­ Great player, great determination, great athlete, but­ an UNDER ACHIEVER in my view.
    With her TALENT she could­ have been the GREATEST player ever.
    She could have won­ more slams than Graf or Navratilova.

    She clearly­ stated her ATTITUDE towards the game with her comments­ I quoted.

    Venus conducts herself MUCH BETTER and more­ Maturely (with the exception of her Fashion statements­ of course).
    I have the utmost respect for Venus and­ consider her a better person and Player than­ Serena.

    But that is just my PERSONAL impression.

    From Con, on Thu 5 Jan 19:18
  11. She has charities in Kenya but NONE in her own country.­ Why is it because there are no needy children in the­ US of A; both black and white?

    Why in Kenya­ doesn't the saying "CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME­ " ring a bell? Being the black racists the whole­ family is; I think they don't want any white kids­ to benefit from her largesse.

    She's always been a­ bad wannabe actress; and I saw through her act. If­ her ankle was twisted so badly could she come back to­ win her game? Only bleeding heart, fanatical fans­ would believe in the bad acting.

    By the way who are­ her"WORLD RENOWNED SPECIALISTS". We are all­ impressed. More impressive are her "IMMENSELY­ POPULAR" TV shows. At what time is it aired? 3­ in the morning? Oh I forgot the fantastic book that ­ she wrote; rivalling that of Emily Bronte but not even­ good enough for toilet use.

    Have you got anymore tall­ Willums stories? I'm all ears

    From Peter, on Thu 5 Jan 19:13
  12. Thats gotta be a man.

    From Leeds, on Thu 5 Jan 19:09
  13. And Con if you read my comments you would realize we­ actually AGREE-I have made it very clear that Serena­ and Venus play when they feel like it and we all know­ it-no need to post an entire article because that was­ what I was trying to explain to all those who accused­ them of faking injuries and illness to be away from the­ tour-when they don't want to play they don't­ play and at least they are honest about it and­ don't make any excuses because tennis isn't­ everything for them they have other interests.I am not­ thrilled that they don't play more,but at this­ stage of their career it's unlikely they will start­ playing more.And when Martina Hingis was asked in an­ interview in Wimbledon on why Serena has lasted so long­ on the tour while she and Kournikova for example have­ retired relatively young she said it was because­ Williams sisters never played week after week like they­ did and did other things.Hingis said she got tired of­ playing week after week and spending entire time on the­ tour(and lets face it one of the problems was she­ couldn't deal with the big hitters any more).I also­ criticize Williams sisters but do feel the need to­ defend them from ridiculous accusations and claims even­ when evidence suggests otherwise(video above for­ example).

    From honeybeecro7, on Thu 5 Jan 19:02
  14. webbski, & Federernadalroddick Serenavenus

    I­ DON'T have doubles but if that helps you sleep­ better or get through your day easier feel free to live­ with your PARANOIA!

    And if you think that people like­ you 2 are the INTELLECTUALS of this forum then your are­ TOTALLY DELUSIONAL!

    I wrote no words of anger, insult­ or racism in my 2 posts yet here you are insulting­ me.

    Perfectly backs up my claims of earlier.

    WILLIAMS­ FANS are no better than those that post Hate and Racial­ comments.

    Live by the sword, die by the sword! or if­ you prefer,

    The pot calling the kettle BLACK!

    From Con, on Thu 5 Jan 18:59
  15. Peter or should I call you khartongjin who referred to­ me as a Honeychile a few times just like you did now-­ coincidence-yeah right,more like multiple accounts.And­ she has built two schools in Kenya(you can simply­ google it to see the schools) and is building a third­ but you don't accept that,there is a video of her­ twisting her ankle but you don't accept the fact­ she is injured and yes I could find names of the­ doctors who talked about Venus's illness but why­ bother when common sense and taking evidence into­ consideration is a unknown concept to you.And Con when­ people accuse someone of faking of injury despite there­ is a video posted here that says otherwise and refuse­ to accept the fact just because they don't like­ someone then they are haters and I didn't use the­ word racist because I don't think everyone who says­ something bad about them are racists but some of them­ definitely are as you know very well because you have­ been commentating her long enough to have read some of­ them.

    From honeybeecro7, on Thu 5 Jan 18:50
  16. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Honeybeecroft comes up with "WORLD RENOWNED­ SPECIALISTS" but can't name any. Immensely­ popular Willums TV shows which no one has seen. Best­ selling book (which no one has heard of) which Dickens­ would have been envious of. Charitable foundation in­ Kenya (wonder where that is).

    Just because he makes­ all these unfounded claims is everyone supposed to take­ it as the gospel truth? Honeybeecroft is a good or­ even better liar than Serena (of I am 68kg fame).

    From Peter, on Thu 5 Jan 18:34
  17. i don't know why you guys replies con and his­ doubles??to me is a total waste of time,i see them as­ yahoo ignorants,if you are new on yahoo ignore those­ fooooooooooools.

    From Federernadalroddick Serenavenus, on Thu 5 Jan 18:31
  18. Con you Semite ape go away you are not welcome here

    From webbski, on Thu 5 Jan 18:00
  19. @62: The less you write then the better for everyone­ else; nice to see that you have failed in one of your­ NY's resolutions already (to post more sensible­ comments or shut the feck up).
    Do us all a favour­ 'Mr. Perfect' .......... go away in short,­ jerky movements, there's a good lad.

    From bobby, on Thu 5 Jan 17:43
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Tennis-Reluctant athlete Williams enjoys Australia­ return
    Mon, 02 Jan 10:51:00 2012

    "I have never­ liked sports and could never understand how I became an­ athlete,"
    QUITE A BIT OF "SELF PRAISE"­ AND A PAT ON THE BACK THERE.

    "I don't like­ working out and don't like anything to do with­ working physically. If it involves sitting down or­ shopping, I'm excellent at that."
    EXPLAINS ALL­ THE EXTRA WEIGHT SHE CARRIES AROUND. IMAGINE IF THIS­ WOMAN FULLY DEDICATED HERSELF TO THE SPORT? THEN­ AGAIN, GOIND AROUND TO SHOPPING MALLS AND TRYING ON ALL­ THAT CLOTHING, SHOES AND ACCESSORIES, THAT WOULD BE­ QUITE A WORK OUT!

    "That has always been my­ Achilles' heel, the working out."
    SO WORKING­ OUT IS NOW AN ACHILLES HEEL???
    BETTER LET THE OTHER­ GIRLS KNOW.

    "I think for me it's all about­ motivation as opposed to my skill or anything­ else," she said. "As long as the­ motivation's there it's definitely going to be­ cool.
    SO MOTIVATION IS THE KEY. FORGET TRAINING,­ HITTING THOUSANDS OF BALLS, PRACTICING SERVES, GYM­ WORKOUTS. MOTIVATION IS THE ANSWER AND THE SKILL LEVEL­ JUST HAPPENS TO BE A GOD GIVEN GIFT! GEEEE SOME PEOPLE­ ARE BORN LUCKY!

    "I'm not playing a full­ schedule this year. I just want to be able to do other­ things that I'm doing and I think that will help­ keep my motivation up.
    SO THERE YOU HAVE IT, SERENA IS­ OFFICIALLY A PART-TIMER :)))))
    BY THE WAY, WHEN WAS THE­ LAST TIME SHE PLAYED A FULL SEASON...LOL!
    AND PLAYING­ LESS KEEPS THE MOTIVATION UP APPARENTLY.
    I WOULD HAVE­ THOUGHT PLAYING A FEW MORE EVENTS AND WINNING MORE THAN­ A COUPLE OF TOURNAMENTS A YEAR WOULD BE ENOUGH­ MOTIVATION. APPARENTLY NOT.
    OUTSIDE INTERESTS IS THE­ WAY TO GO.
    SOUNDS MORE LIKE AN EXCUSE FOR SLOWLY FADING­ OUT OF THE SPORT.

    "I'm always preparing­ myself for life after tennis (but)... I don't want­ to go anywhere anytime soon."

    THE LESS THIS­ WOMAN SPEAKS THE BETTER!

    From Con, on Thu 5 Jan 16:47
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