BRISBANE, Australia, January 4 – A hobbling Serena Williams said she would wait 24 hours before deciding whether to withdraw from the Brisbane International because of an ankle injury she picked up Wednesday.
The injury-prone 13-time Grand Slam winner fell heavily during her second round win over Serbia’s Bojana Jovanovski after she rolled her ankle during a baseline rally.
Williams, who was serving for the match at the time, was able to continue following treatment and held on to beat Jovanovski 6-2, 6-4, setting up a quarter-final clash with Daniela Hantuchova.
But she limped from the court and conceded she may be forced to pull out. “I don’t know yet (what is wrong), I’m going to hopefully find out later today so I’m just thinking positive,” Williams said.
The 30-year-old has been plagued by injuries since she won Wimbledon in 2010, beginning when she cut her foot in a German restaurant, keeping her out of the game for a year.
She came back in mid-2011 and had a series of good results before a toe complaint forced her to withdraw from a tournament in Canada.
She then took the last four months of 2011 off, conceding this week that she was tired at the time and needed a break.
Williams, who normally wears an ankle guard on her left leg, said she thought “not again” as she felt the ankle give way.
“I was like, no way, but as long as I was able to walk it was a little better (than in the past),” she said.
“I actually took (the ankle guard) off in the second set because it was painful because I was having another problem with my foot and it was hurting the other problem.
“I have a brace that I didn’t put on today — I wasn’t thinking.”
She said her initial thoughts are that she will play on against Hantuchova.
“But I’m just going to play it by ear and see how I wake up in the morning.”
