Serena hurt but keeps injury a secret
Serena Williams has admitted injury was a factor in her listless Australian Open quarter final defeat to Jelena Jankovic, however the eight-time slam champ refused to reveal the nature of the ailment, or use it as an excuse.
Serena was nowhere near the level she displayed through the opening four rounds at Melbourne Park, sauntering through the match without energy.
“I was having some issues, but I don’t like to make excuses,” Williams said. “Nothing life threatening, so it’s fine.”
“As an athlete you know not every day you’re going to feel 100 percent, and some days you have to win feeling 30 percent.”
Williams suffered from blisters - a fact revealed during a Jankovic medical time-out in the second set - however Serena cast aside suggestions that was the reason for the below-par effort.
“No, it wasn’t a factor.”
Whatever the injury or illness, it didn’t prevent Serena from playing doubles with sister Venus later in the afternoon. The day only getting worse for the younger sibling, with the pair knocked out.
A mixture of unforced errors and poor serving led to the Jankovic loss, Williams’ fourth consecutive grand slam quarter final exit.
“I think that I went crazy, maybe, and I made a lot of mistakes. I didn’t really play the game I wanted to play.
“I definitely couldn’t find any rhythm out there. I definitely didn’t have the right shot selection.
“I lost because Jelena played better than me and I made too many errors. I think regardless, the match was on my racquet, and I gave it away.”
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