Just days after reports surfaced that she would make her
much anticipated return to tennis at Roland Garros in May, Serena Williams is being treated in an L.A. hospital for a blood clot in her lungs.
According to People magazine, Williams, 29, underwent emergency treatment on Monday “for a hematoma suffered as a result of treatment for a more critical situation.” A spokeswoman said Williams suffered a pulmonary embolism last week, and doctors are monitoring the situation closely.
The 13-time Grand Slam titlist, who hasn’t played a WTA Tour match since capturing the ’10 Wimbledon title due to a freak foot injury she suffered in a Munich restaurant, was spotted at the Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party on Sunday night. But on Tuesday, Williams seemed to signal a setback when she posted a two-word message on her Twitter account. It succinctly read: “Tough day.”
Williams has had many a tough day in her 15-year career. Simply put, she’s the most tumultuous star in women’s sports history. An over-the-top will and raw ferocity are her tonics. Writer Sue Mott claims her “role model was less Chris Evert than Thor.” In fact, no female athlete draws drama and controversy more than Serena, who once proclaimed, “You need a wild streak…You need to put it out there that you’re reckless and unpredictable. It’s the 10th anniversary of the booing incident at Indian Wells, a troubling moment that changed the landscape of tennis and still stirs controversy. Williams, who once dubbed herself “Rebel X,” recalled, “You don’t know what it was like to have all of that entitled vitriol raining down on you.” She added that she would never go back and “give these people validation. I will not stand down. It’s a point of pride.”
In Williams’ ’04 U.S. Open quarterfinal against Jennifer Capriati, she suffered a line call (which Nick Bollettieri called “the most abominably unfair call in the history of tennis”) against her that quickly led to the ascendance of the Hawk-Eye electronic line-calling system.
The catalogue of “Serena Stuff” — curious incidents and happenings involving Williams — seems unending. Her astounding ’02 entrance on court in New York in a jaw-dropping black Puma catsuit was one of the most shocking moments in sports fashion history. Just last week, Justine Henin offered an apology of sorts for not admitting that she had raised her hand to stop play while Serena was serving at a key moment in their critical ’03 French Open semi. Williams brushed it aside with a Twitter message that asked, “I keep hearing about admittance to someone cheating me & lying about it after at the French open? Did she confess finally?” And what tennis buff could possibly forget Williams’ now infamous meltdown in Flushing Meadows in ’09, when she was called for a foot-fault just two points from defeat in her semi against Kim Clijsters? Her widely viewed rant remains one of the most explosive on-court incidents since John McEnore was in his prime.
Already questions are being asked whether Serena can possibly come back from her serious hospitalization. But Serena clearly thrives on adversity. “Tell me ‘No’ and I’ll show U,” she once wrote in her journal. “Just tell me I can’t win. Just tell me it’s out of reach. Come on, I’ll prove U wrong! Just tell me ‘No’ and watch what happens.” So when her boyfriend, NFL star Lavar Arrington dumped her, the heartbroken Williams simply turned her grief into the hottest run of her career, winning all four majors between ’02 and ’03 to claim the non-calendar-year “Serena Slam.”
But when her beloved older sister, Yetunde, was slain in Compton, she went into a deep funk. In an accident in ’03 (which is eerily similar to the foot injury she suffered in Munich) she injured her knee while out dancing in high heels. She lost early in big tournaments. She underwent surgery and her ranking dropped to No. 139. Tears flowed. She was virtually an apartment-bound hermit who didn’t even speak with her mom, dad or sisters. Here was a lost and gloomy soul stuck in a dreary funk, who admitted she was “deeply and utterly depressed.” Weary and consumed by an “aching sadness,” she was “disinterested in the world around — and in tennis above all.”
Having trouble even walking and desperate to heal, she retreated and for months didn’t pick up a racket. Finally, her family came to L.A. for an intervention and Serena soon began daily therapy sessions. At last she admitted, “[I] wasn’t honest with myself about how I was feeling, what I was thinking. In truth, I’d never been honest with myself about stuff like this—- and this right here was the root of my troubles.” Serena eventually tapped into her deep well of will power to re-establish her brand. She went on to win six more Slams, became No. 1 and made a clear point to her critics.
Still, tennis must once more wonder whether we’ll ever again see Serena — the real, fierce Serena of old — proud and imposing, a raw warrior. After all, in this sport, there’s nothing like it.
