Motherhood is already affecting Serena Williams’ schedule at the US Open. Friday, she cancelled her appearance at Media Day, with a USTA official announcing to…
Motherhood is already affecting Serena Williams’ schedule at the US Open. Friday, she cancelled her appearance at Media Day, with a USTA official announcing to the crowd that Williams’ baby girl, Alexis Olympia, was “under the weather.”
The other top players met with media at the new $150 million Armstrong Stadium and interview sessions were open to fans for the first time. Williams rescheduled her first pre-tournament press conference for Saturday when and if she appears at Ashe Kids Day.
Since Wimbledon, Williams’ chatty French coach Patrick Mouratoglou has been asked by her to refrain from talking about her to media. One source said it was out of “superstition’’ and to try something different in the new post-pregnancy stage of her career.
One theory among tennis insiders is perhaps Mouratoglou, who normally comments about her performance after big grand slam matches, can’t truly understand what Williams is experiencing on court now that she’s a new mother.
Virginia Wade, who participated in Media Day to commemorate the 50th anniversary of winning the first US Open, said it would be a dazzling achievement for Williams to win this Open, considering her fitness and draw.
“I think it would be absolutely phenomenal if she could get herself to win this tournament,’’ Wade said of Williams, who lost to Victoria Azarenka in the Wimbledon final.
“It would be a worthy win for somebody who is such an icon. I think she’s still got a way to go to get herself into fitness. And she’s got a lousy draw. If she had a few more comfortable matches, and she didn’t waste too much energy in them, I think should could do it.”
If she does it, Serena would tie Margaret Court for most grand slams in history at 24.
“Getting out of the box playing tough people, playing Venus to play Halep, that’s going to be very demanding,’’ Wade said. “Listen, if she can win the tournament I’m going to bend over backwards giving her applause because that would be a major achievement, well-deserved award.”
No. 2 seed Caroline Wozniacki will play her first Open with ex-Knicks forward David Lee as her fiancé. She won her first Grand Slam last January, the Australian Open, after getting engaged in November.
“He’s such a positive person,’’ Wozniacki said when asked how he’s helped her tennis. “He just helped me enjoy my time off the court and just more relaxed and having fun doing what I do. Sometimes you get so caught up in everything — he just reminded me we’re so fortunate to be here and playing. That kind of mentally shifted me.”
Unseeded Andy Murray, battling hip woes that caused an 11-month layoff, cried into a towel on the court after an Aug. 4 match that ended at 3 a.m. in Washington. Though he won the match, Murray withdrew from the tournament then skipped the Toronto event. He returned in Cincinnati last week, losing early and never addressing the crying scene that created discussion about mental health issues in a positive way. “There was a lot going on,’’ Murray said. “It was an extremely long day, very long. I was physically tired, my body was sore. It was a combination of a lot of things. Obviously I was just really emotional for lots and lots of different reasons.‘’
