Serena Won’t Play Dubai Either, Her Back Is Bad

by Staff | February 20th, 2013, 12:53 pm
  • 44 Comments

A day after Victoria Azarenka announced her withdrawal, new No. 1 Serena Williams did the same this morning pulling out of the Dubai tournament due to a back injury just before her scheduled match against Marion Bartoli.

“I’ve just had some back problems the past couple weeks,” Williams told Reuters. “I thought it would get better as the week went on but it didn’t. I don’t want to keep pushing it and make it worse.”

Serena was hampered by a lower back issue in her shock quarterfinal loss to fellow American Sloane Stephens in the Australian Open quarterfinals. Both she and Azarenka, though, appeared to be in good health during their Doha final on Sunday.


The loss of Serena and Azarenka and the non-entry of Maria Sharapova leaves the lucrative event with defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska as its top seed.

Serena is set to play the Madison Square Garden exo against Azarenka in two weeks, then return to action in Miami.


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44 Comments for Serena Won’t Play Dubai Either, Her Back Is Bad

juljo724 Says:

Just shows that many professional athletes don’t advertise their ailments beforehand. Still doesn’t stop the armchair athletes from implying that they are faking injuries.


TennisWeBlog.com Says:

Well all we can do is wish her all the best and hope she’ll be as soon as possible !! :)


Humble Rafa Says:

Umpires breathe a sigh of relief.


skeezer Says:

Serena didn’t do this;

-Entered the Tourney with a ( supposed ) injury and Played.
-Lost.
-THEN claimed she had a injury and used it as an excuse for her loss.

Kudos to her. If your not well enough to play and win, don’t play. Otherwise, STFU and play.

Get well soon #1.


juljo724 Says:

skeezer so kindly posts: “If your not well enough to play and win, don’t play. Otherwise, STFU and play.”

Dang, didn’t realize you can’t claim any injury unless you win. Some players evidently don’t know it either….they play and lose and some play and win. They need to talk to skeezer. He obviously knows it all.


juljo724 Says:

Point is, most athletes do not advertise their weaknesses/ailments/injuries before a match or tourney. That is just common sense.


skeezer Says:

“Dang, didn’t realize you can’t claim any injury unless you win….”

Too much Koolaid…LOL


faruq Says:

Serena didn’t do this either;

-Entered the Tourney with a (supposed) injury/mono and Played.
-Lost.
-THEN claimed she had a injury/mono and used it as an excuse months after her loss.

just sayin’..


Alok Says:

Serena did not play her best at when she faced Sharapova and watching her I felt her back and ankle must be causing her some discomfort. She showed her fighting spirit though, dug deeper and came out the winner. It was obvious that when she played against Aza in the final the next day that perhaps my suspicions were correct. IMO, she’s doing the right thing pulling out from dubai to rest and heal.

Those who have back pain and play tennis know all too well, how much an ankle problem can affect the player’s back, due to ompensation.

I hope she’s rested and healed for the NA, clay and grass season.


skeezer Says:

@furuq

feds “mono” is a fact, not a “supposed”. Do you want to show us all how he is “quoted” that one of the reaons he lost was that? i can point you to a FO loss by someone else who then after the fact said they were injured. Oh, and there is more. Do you really want to start comparing the injury excuse facts with other players? Lets compare, happy too ;)


Humble Rafa Says:

skeezer

Calm down. You suffer from a Arro-withdrawal syndrome. It will be cured in a few weeks. Just stop interacting with people in the mean time, as you are bound to be irritable. You may also challenge people to fights. This is not good for you.


Brazil Federer Fan Says:

Serena is not a one-surface wonder who has to hide behind injuries.

No title outside clay since october 2010. guess the player.

Hint: drama queen faking injuries at 26 years old. LOL!

Hint 2: choked on a “banana” in FO 2005

Hint 3: cried “mommy! cramps!” in US open press conference.


Brazil Federer Fan Says:

Serena is 30+. no surprise in injuries there.


skeezer Says:

HR,

Don’t be upset that I don’t drink your Koolaid.
Am flattered by your attention. No need to worry about my calmness. I was born calm. Get back on the court and talk less, who knows, you may wind up playing better.


nadalista Says:

Jeez, Vamos syndrome is a nasty disease indeed, the way it’s attacking some people…….does it have a cure, me wonders?


volley Says:

@ juljo724

after Federer lost to Berdych in four sets in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 2010:

“I couldn’t play the way I wanted to play. You know, I am struggling with a little bit of a back and a leg issue. That just doesn’t quite allow me to play the way I would like to play. But I definitely gave away this match, I feel.”

some posters drink koolaid, some have it on an IV drip.


Giles Says:

volley. Fed received a lot of adverse press for that statement! Very unsportsmanlike indeed!!


skeezer Says:

volley

Had to dig deep for that did ya? How many more post Fed injury excuses can you dig up for him? 1? 2?
Like I said, you want to compare Rafa’s constant iv drip of excuses to the entire field of players, you ‘ll lose. Keep whining.


mat4 Says:

As everybody knows, when OUR player calls for a MTO, he’s injured; when the other player does it, it is gamesmanship. When our player retires, he was injured, when the other player retires, he is a quitter.

That apart, we should mention two things that make Rafa’s case a bit different: surprise injuries and cofusing injuries.

The surprise injuries: those are the serious injuries, unsuspected while he played, revealed after a defeat. Two of those: after his losses against Soderling and Rosol.

The problem is that those are very serious injuries, requiring a lot of time to recover. The pain certainly didn’t start in those matches. But, in both cases, Rafa played every single possible tournament on clay before the loss in question, and — I could be wrong there, single I am writing from memory — didn’t mention any pain, or an injury beforehand.

The confusing knee: it is the injury he got in his QF against Ferrer at the AO, when he really didn’t know which knee bothered him — right or left?

I understand that his statements about his knees are sometimes confusing: he is not an English native speaker, and I have myself a lot of difficulties to remember the adequate technical terms in English.

But the problem, for me, is that his injuries were very serious, in one hand, and there was no signs of them while he played, in the other.

Let’s review the others top four:

Whenever he is losing, Djokovic will be tempted to take an MTO.

Whenever he is losing, Murray will grab his tight.

Whenever he has lost an important match, Federer will declare that he should have won.


skeezer Says:

Mat4,

Intuitive. Nailed it and objective. My only add is Fed claims to “he should have won” more than it tied to some suspicious type injury that caused it. I am not saying Fed has never played a post injury card, but he along with most players don’t make it a habit like “you know who”.

Btw, kudos to your man winning the AO whilst not whining and abiding by the time rule. Exquisite and well done.


Wog boy Says:

mat4,

:)

You’ve done it again.


Giles Says:

skeezer. You are such a fraud with your comments. Suddenly you are gushing over Nole’s AO win. Would you still be gushing had it been your cry baby getting beaten? Don’t worry, there is still time. And now I expect you to applaud and compliment all the opponents that give your man a beating! #OnlyFair


mat4 Says:

Come on, boys, I just try to be respectful and objective. There could be flaws in my thinking, and I would like somebody to point at them.

Anyway, there are so many Rafans here, and I never read a post about the evolution of his FH. I was the first to point at patterns in the timing of his injuries (those posts are recent and should be easy to find). To be a fan doesn’t mean to blindly worship, but to know, appreciate, analyse the game of your fav and to be sometimes critical toward him.

I almost believe that I am one of Rafa’s biggest fan on this site.


mat4 Says:

@Giles:

Skeezer was always fair in his comments unless provoked.


mat4 Says:

And as a Novak fan, I certainly know what he has written in the past.


Giles Says:

mat4. Beg to differ. skeezer is almost always the “provocateur”. Try tracking back on comments to prove this.


mat4 Says:

Finally, I have no doubts that Skeez would show a lot of respect for Nadal the moment Rafans start showing the same respect for “his cry baby”, who has won 17 slams and owns almost every tennis record in the book.


mat4 Says:

@Giles:

It is like a Sicilian vendetta right now. No one knows who started first and when it happened.


Giles Says:

mat4. There is a typical example of nasty skeezer in play. His post Feb 20, 2.09 pm.
He did receive a response. So you see, he always starts and when posters respond they become the bad guys!


Giles Says:

mat4. Respect begets respect. You only have to read some of the comments from some of the nasty fed fans to realise they don’t know the meaning of the word. Do you read BFF’s comments?? Anyway I really pity them!!


mat4 Says:

@Giles:

First, I really don’t think you are a bad guy. And I also have a lot of respect for many other Rafa’s fans.

This respect toward alison, Contador, Brando, makes me think twice before writing a post about Rafa. The same respect of Skeezer, TL, Grendel, TFS76 and others makes me chose my words when I write about Roger.

So, the best way, I guess, is to answer with arguments, to make objective and thoughtful posts. Anyway, if Skeezer is such a provocateur, don’t read his posts, don’t waste your time.


mat4 Says:

@Giles:

I don’t read BFF’s comments, nor the DA’s, nor Dave’s.

In truth, I skip at least halft the threads.


Wog boy Says:

mat4,

Contador is not Rafa fan (methinks), but Kimberly, Lulu Iberica and few others, really nice Rafa fans, I am not being a crawler to Rafa fans, just saying if you don’t mind. I was one of them until few years ago … well nobody is perfect;)


mat4 Says:

@WB:

Are you sure Conty is not a Rafan? Kimberly didn’t write much recently; Lulu Iberica is very nice indeed.

Then, I’ve got problems with my sight, so I can’t read what you wrote in the second part of your post..


Wog boy Says:

I am pretty sure Conty likes Federer, Andy and Nole.

NOBODY IS PERFECT … I think you said the same thing about you and Wilander while ago?


nadalista Says:

@mat4 says;

“Finally, I have no doubts that Skeez would show a lot of respect for Nadal the moment Rafans start showing the same respect for “his cry baby”, who has won 17 slams and owns almost every tennis record in the book.”

Nonsense, absolute tosh. My opinion of Novak is not related to my opinion of you and his fans. Choosing to live your life vicariously through Novak does not make you Novak, simple.

My opinion of Federer is not related to my opinion of his fans. Some of his fans are clinically mad (my opinion), I definitely do not have the same opinion about Fed.

The give-away is your use of the possessive, “his” in describing the skeezer-Fed “relationship”. That is disturbing, and explains the unhealthy, bitchy anti-Rafa posts.

If skeezer’s respect (or lack thereof) for Rafa depends on Rafans’ behaviour then he needs an intervention, of the psychological variety.

I am a Rafan, but I certainly do not consider Rafa “mine”. I can make the distinction between a player and his/her fans. You are saying some posters here cannot………


Wog boy Says:

^ Don’t worry, I saw two dots at the end of your post..


mat4 Says:

@WB:

You wanted to say: nobody is peRFect?


Wog boy Says:

You can say it that way too, but I prefer the first one without capital RF letters, I don’t know why..


mat4 Says:

@nadalista:

Sorry, mist your post, which certainly doesn’t deserve an answer. But I am in a mood…

I quoted “his cry baby” from another post. In the original, it was “your cry baby”. So his/your doesn’t reveal anything.

My opinion about Rafa is my own. As I said before, I try to be objective, but I don’t exclude that my opinion is biased. But respecting some fans of Nadal, I try to give arguments for what I write, and I usually avoid to write about certain topics.

I don’t bash Rafa. You can always answer to my posts in a rational manner, I’ll be happy to read your answers and to argue, in a rational manner. I have a lot of troubling questions about Rafa, questions that are without answers for years. Dave is usually very offensive, his logic is sometimes flawed (in my opinion), but he, at least, tries to answer and he has a meticulous argumentation.

There are “mad fans” everywhere. (E.g., you can’t write anything about Novak when a certain female fan is present; some of AM’s fans are very aggressive, some of Fed’s too.) But I don’t see why you should start to act in the same manner.

What’s your problem lately? Usually, you are quite pleasant to read.


mat4 Says:

…missed…


mat4 Says:

Finally, I think that the way Skeezer provoked Giles and you to react is the way Skeezer was himself provoked to react so many times before.

So, do what I usually do: skip some posts.


Sean Randall Says:

I have a hunch both Serena and Azarenka will be healthy for their Monday night March 4 exo in NYC.


Giles Says:

^^^ Let’s just hope posters here don’t start another argument as to why they should play the Exo after retiring from Dubai!! Lol

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