Serena Williams of the U.S. celebrates defeating Russia's Vera Zvonareva in the womens' singles final at the 2010 Wimbledon tennis championships in London, July 3, 2010. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

Serena Williams Out of the Open, So What Do We Watch Now?

by Knox Bardeen, GEM Tennis

On Friday, there couldn’t have been words uttered more troubling than what Serena Williams said through a press release to the tennis world.

“It is with much frustration and deep sadness that I am having to pull out of the U.S. Open,” Williams said in that release. “Due to the surgery I had on my foot earlier this month, my doctors have advised against my playing so that my foot can heal.”

Shortly after Wimbledon, Williams had an accident at a German restaurant. The details are sketchy, at best, but apparently she cut her foot on some glass and was forced to have the injury surgically repaired. We don’t really know how the accident happened, whose fault it was, or exactly what the injury was. All we know is that she was forced into surgery and then wore a walking boot for some time after.

Williams is crushed. She hasn’t missed a Grand Slam event since 2006, and in a release on Friday she shared just how distraught she was.

“Not being able to be part of this year’s U.S. Open is one of the most devastating moments of my career,” Williams said.

But it isn’t just Williams who is hurting because of her inability to play in the Open, which starts on Aug. 30. The tournament itself will suffer.

“We regret that Serena Williams is unable to play the U.S. Open and wish her a speedy recovery,” said Jim Curley, the U.S. Open Tournament Director.”She will be missed, but the tournament is about the competition and the players on the court. This year’s U.S. Open will be a memorable event, as it has been every year.”

Those words were exactly what Curley was supposed to say — but they weren’t his real thoughts, at least not in their entirety. What Curley and the rest of the tournament officials, the sponsors and the television networks were really thinking was simple, and pained.

‘Oh no’!

Without Williams, ratings for the U.S. Open will surely fall off. It won’t be a huge drop, but enough for everyone who counts on as many eyeballs as possible to be focused on the tournament to feel its effects. Williams is the most popular American tennis player on tour, maybe the most popular in the world. When she’s unable to play in one of the biggest events on the planet, no one wins.

And when someone other than Serena Williams wins the U.S. Open in mid-September, they’ll know that they didn’t have to go through Serena to get it done. She just brings an air of competitiveness and strength to any tournament she enters. And while no player will admit this, a tournament win without Serena present – even a Grand Slam event – just isn’t as big of a deal.

Williams ranks sixth on the career list of Grand Slam tournament winners. Margaret Smith Court leads all with 24, while Steffi Graf is second with 22. Helen Wills Moody is in third place with 19 career Grand Slam tournament wins and Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova each have 18.

Williams sits at 13 Grand Slam titles after winning both the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year. And she’ll be stuck there until January of 2011 – her first chance at another major, the Australian Open. But she won’t be stuck without tennis.

Williams has already committed to the Fed Cup finals in November. That will be her next opportunity to play tennis.

If she’s healthy, that is.

Until then, don’t get too hung up on Serena’s absence. And don’t even think about not tuning in. The women’s draw has plenty of story lines left to play out. Would it be better if Williams were playing? Sure. But since she’s not, focus on something else.

Melanie Oudin of the U.S. celebrates her win over Nadia Petrova of Russia during their match at the U.S. Open tennis championship in New York, September 7, 2009.

Here are three suggestions:

1. Make bets on which player will have the harshest confrontation with a line judge. You could bet on sister Venus to channel Serena’s venom, but the smart money – in my opinion – should be on Victoria Azarenka. I know Azarenka has been playing it cool lately, but she’s a flip-out moment away from upsetting any number of people.
2. Maria Sharapova is also dealing with a foot injury – she recently pulled out of the Rogers Cup in Montreal to fly to Florida for treatment – but she is confident she’ll be ready for the Open. She’s had a darned good U.S. Open Series and could be primed to wow the world, once again.
3. Everyone loves an underdog story, and boy did we get one last year when 17-year-old, unseeded Melanie Oudin romped to the quarterfinals. Since then, her best finish has been a semifinal loss to Elena Dementieva in the Open GDF Suez in Paris in February of this year. She was dumped in the first round of the Australian Open and the French Open, and the second round at Wimbledon. She needs a good showing at the final Grand Slam event of 2010, and quite frankly American tennis could sure use it too.