Serena Williams' shoulder problems are beginning to ease as she prepares to win a record-breaking 23rd grand slam in the modern era at the U.S. Open.
The
world's top-ranked player equaled Steffi Graf's 22 major titles with
her triumph at Wimbledon in July, but she sustained an injury that
proved evident in her Rio Olympics capitulation at the hands of Elina
Svitolina in the third round.
The
34-year-old subsequently pulled out of the Western and Southern Open
this month, and admits she is not in great shape despite improvement in
the joint.
Asked
when her shoulder problems began, Williams replied: "Ironically enough,
the day after the finals of Wimbledon. I was like, how did I win?"
"For
the Olympics, I just practiced two days before playing my match. It's
not ideal, but it was all I could do," she said. "I have not played a
lot and practiced a lot. The shoulder is getting a little bit better. I
am taking it a day at a time.
"Usually
I prefer to play more coming into tournament, but there is nothing you
can do about it and I am going to try to make the best of every single
opportunity that I have to play."
Williams
will begin her U.S. Open bid with a match against Ekaterina Makarova,
whom she beat en route to the title in 2012 and 2014.
"I
know she's a good player. I've just got to do the best I can. She's a
big fighter. She never really stops," Williams said. "I think one thing I
think that's pretty impressive is she gets a lot of balls back. You
think she's not super quick, but she is."
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