Serena Williams’ fall in the Australian Open is scary for two reasons. She is either in jeopardy of winning the first Grand Slam of the year or the world number three player showed nothing is going to stop her.
Already ahead of Edina Gallovits-Hall of Romania by 4-0, Serena went wide for a shot, slid a few feet and fell over. Williams lay still for a while before chair umpire Kerrilyn Cramer and Gallovits-Hall came over to offer help.
During the medical timeout, a trainer cut the thick tape off her ankle and re-applied heavier tape. Almost eight minutes later, Williams hobbled a little and finished the match 6-0, 6-0 in 54 minutes.
“I think I was really, really close to panicking because a very similar thing happened to me last year, almost on the same side, the same shot," Williams said. "So I almost panicked, and I thought, I can't do that. I just have to really remain calm and think things through."
Gallovits-Hall is ranked 75th and is not much of a challenge, but Serena was almost playing on one leg and still in control. Now the extent of William’s injury is yet to be determined and maybe the damage will show more affect in later matches.
But the toughness that Williams displayed shows a determination that might just win the Australian Open and propel the American to the number one ranking.
“Oh, I’ll be out there,” she said. “I mean, unless something fatal happens to me, there’s no way I’m not going to be competing. I’m alive. My heart’s beating. I’ll be fine.”
Aiming to win her fourth straight major, the 15 time Grand Slam Champion has lost just one match since last year’s French Open.
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