Serena joins in Wimbledon drills from afar
July 4, 2017 | 12:00 AM
Venus Williams of the United States looks on during her Women's singles match against Belgium's Elise Mertens on the opening day at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London Monday. — AP
July 4, 2017 | 12:00 AM
Last Updated: July 4, 2017 | 12:00 AM
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LONDON — Even Serena Williams was getting in the Wimbledon groove on Monday — and she was nowhere near the London grasscourts.
As the first day's play got under way, she posted a video clip on Instagram of her pounding backhands on a claycourt despite being absent from the tour since winning the Australian Open in January as she is expecting her first child.
"Wimbledon got me like: Easy standing drills this morning. Go easy," the 2016 champion posted to her 6.1 million followers.
Her coach Patrick Mouratoglou told Reuters at the French Open last month that the 23-times grand slam champion was still hitting and working out to keep her touch.
Even though she has been out of action for nearly six months, she has also still been making the tennis headlines.
Last week, she took to Twitter to ask John McEnroe for "respect" after the seven-times grand slam champion said his fellow American would be ranked "like 700 in the world" if she had to play on the men's circuit.
Serena not being at from the grasscourt major is clearly a loss for some fans.
"I'm not even watching women's Wimbledon without you. I just won't be able to. Awaiting your comeback," one, identified as queendeebs, replied to the Instagram posting.
For world No. 2 Simona Halep, Serena's absence is, however, becoming normal. "We didn't see Serena since the Australian Open... I'm not thinking about Serena when I go to the tournament now because she's missed, like, five, six months already," the Romanian told reporters after her first round win.
But for Venus Williams, the absence of her younger sister and doubles partner from the All England Club is acute. "I miss her a lot. I think she misses me," she told reporters.
Venus broke down in tears during her post-match news conference at Wimbledon on Monday when asked about a recent motoring incident she was involved in, which led to the death of a 78-year-old Florida man.
Williams, who won her first-round match against Belgian Elise Mertens in straight sets, was asked about her feelings regarding the incident.
"There are really no words to describe, like, how devastating and...yeah. I'm completely speechless. It's just - yeah, I mean, I'm just," said the American before breaking down in tears and leaving the room.
The five-times Wimbledon champion returned shortly afterwards to finish off the compulsory media briefing. News of the fatal incident near her home in Palm Beach Gardens surfaced on Thursday.
Palm Beach Gardens police released a preliminary report saying she was the driver at fault in a June 9 accident that left Jerome Barson, a passenger in the other car, with fatal injuries.
After the crash, Barson was taken to a Florida trauma center where he died 13 days later, according to the Palm Beach county medical examiner.
The police report estimated Williams was traveling at about 5 miles per hour (8 kph) at the time of impact and was not distracted or suspected of any drug or alcohol use.
Before breaking down in the news conference, Williams had been asked several questions about her emotions in the past month but had avoided directly addressing the matter.
"Life, you can't prepare for everything. I prepared for a lot of matches, tried to get ready for whatever my opponent will throw at you, but you can't prepare for everything," she said.
"I have no idea what tomorrow will bring. That's all I can say about it. That's what I've learned," she said to another question on how she was handling the situation.
Last week Williams released a statement on Facebook saying that she was "heartbroken" and "devastated" by the death of Barson. — Reuters
As the first day's play got under way, she posted a video clip on Instagram of her pounding backhands on a claycourt despite being absent from the tour since winning the Australian Open in January as she is expecting her first child.
"Wimbledon got me like: Easy standing drills this morning. Go easy," the 2016 champion posted to her 6.1 million followers.
Her coach Patrick Mouratoglou told Reuters at the French Open last month that the 23-times grand slam champion was still hitting and working out to keep her touch.
Even though she has been out of action for nearly six months, she has also still been making the tennis headlines.
Last week, she took to Twitter to ask John McEnroe for "respect" after the seven-times grand slam champion said his fellow American would be ranked "like 700 in the world" if she had to play on the men's circuit.
Serena not being at from the grasscourt major is clearly a loss for some fans.
"I'm not even watching women's Wimbledon without you. I just won't be able to. Awaiting your comeback," one, identified as queendeebs, replied to the Instagram posting.
For world No. 2 Simona Halep, Serena's absence is, however, becoming normal. "We didn't see Serena since the Australian Open... I'm not thinking about Serena when I go to the tournament now because she's missed, like, five, six months already," the Romanian told reporters after her first round win.
But for Venus Williams, the absence of her younger sister and doubles partner from the All England Club is acute. "I miss her a lot. I think she misses me," she told reporters.
Venus broke down in tears during her post-match news conference at Wimbledon on Monday when asked about a recent motoring incident she was involved in, which led to the death of a 78-year-old Florida man.
Williams, who won her first-round match against Belgian Elise Mertens in straight sets, was asked about her feelings regarding the incident.
"There are really no words to describe, like, how devastating and...yeah. I'm completely speechless. It's just - yeah, I mean, I'm just," said the American before breaking down in tears and leaving the room.
The five-times Wimbledon champion returned shortly afterwards to finish off the compulsory media briefing. News of the fatal incident near her home in Palm Beach Gardens surfaced on Thursday.
Palm Beach Gardens police released a preliminary report saying she was the driver at fault in a June 9 accident that left Jerome Barson, a passenger in the other car, with fatal injuries.
After the crash, Barson was taken to a Florida trauma center where he died 13 days later, according to the Palm Beach county medical examiner.
The police report estimated Williams was traveling at about 5 miles per hour (8 kph) at the time of impact and was not distracted or suspected of any drug or alcohol use.
Before breaking down in the news conference, Williams had been asked several questions about her emotions in the past month but had avoided directly addressing the matter.
"Life, you can't prepare for everything. I prepared for a lot of matches, tried to get ready for whatever my opponent will throw at you, but you can't prepare for everything," she said.
"I have no idea what tomorrow will bring. That's all I can say about it. That's what I've learned," she said to another question on how she was handling the situation.
Last week Williams released a statement on Facebook saying that she was "heartbroken" and "devastated" by the death of Barson. — Reuters
