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August 13, 2019

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Serena’s US Open plans rocked

A TEARFUL Serena Williams saw her US Open preparation thrown into disarray on Sunday as back spasms forced her out of the Rogers Cup final in Toronto after just four games, handing Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu the title.

Andreescu, 19, was up 3-1 with a break of serve when 23-time Grand Slam champion Williams decided she couldn’t continue.

She called for a medical timeout, but within a minute, the umpire announced she was retiring.

“I just knew,” said Williams, adding she’d undergone hours of treatment before the match to combat the back spasms she’d first felt in a semifinal win on Saturday night. “I knew I wasn’t going to be able to continue.”

Andreescu approached her chair, offering words of encouragement and a consolatory hug as Williams tried to fight back tears.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t do it today,” Williams told the crowd, her voice cracking. “I tried but I just couldn’t do it.”

Williams said the spasms started during her come-from-behind win over Czech qualifier Marie Bouzkova on Saturday “and it just got worse.”

“Just my whole back just completely spasmed, and to a point where I couldn’t sleep and I couldn’t really move,” she said.

Nevertheless, she wanted to give it a go in the final.

“I don’t want to get this far and not at least try,” said the 37-year-old, who was eyeing her 73rd WTA title — and her first since the birth of her daughter, Olympia, in September 2017.

Beaten by Simona Halep in the Wimbledon final in July, Williams was playing just her 24th match of a year already disrupted by nagging knee trouble.

Williams hasn’t won a title since the 2017 Australian Open.

Since returning to competition after Olympia’s birth, she has reached three Grand Slam finals — and she remained optimistic that she would be ready to try to match Australian Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slams when the US Open starts on August 26.

“Well, that’s the most frustrating part is that I’ve had this before and it’s, like, 24, 36 hours where I’m just in crazy spasm and then it’s, like, gone,” said Williams, who wasn’t immediately sure whether she’d play this week in Cincinnati.

For Andreescu, Sunday’s events were a bittersweet achievement as she became the first Canadian to win the title since Faye Urban in 1969.

“I know how it is to pull out of tournaments and be injured — it’s not easy,” Andreescu said, addressing Williams directly during the trophy presentation.

“This wasn’t the way I expected to win and for you to go off the court. I’ve watched you play so many times. You are truly a champion on and off the court.”

Andreescu claimed her second WTA Premier level title of the year, having rocketed to prominence in March when she became the first wildcard to win at Indian Wells.

She broke into the top 15 in the world rankings yesterday after winning her first tournament since a right shoulder injury sidelined her at the French Open. She climbed 13 places to 14.

And while Williams was keeping her Cincinnati options open, Andreescu was taking no chances, announcing later on Sunday that she would skip the Ohio event. “I really have to listen to my body right now, this last week has not been easy on it,” Andreescu said.

In Montreal, Rafael Nadal won his fifth Rogers Cup title, beating Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-0 on in just 70 minutes on Sunday at breezy IGA Stadium.

The 33-year-old Nadal won the event for the third time in Montreal. The first came in 2005 at age 19 over Andre Agassi, and the second in 2013. Nadal won in Toronto in 2008 and 2018.

“I played a solid match, my best match of the week so far without a doubt,” Nadal said. “I did a lot of things well ­— changing directions, changing rhythms.”

The second-ranked Spanish star won his 83rd singles title and third of the year, following clay victories in Rome and at the French Open. He extended his tour record for Masters 1000 titles to 35, two more than top-ranked Novak Djokovic.

Medvedev, from Russia, was seeded eighth. The match was his first against Nadal.

“I knew how it’s going to be,” Medvedev said. “I was kind of ready for it. Then didn’t manage to probably show my best tennis, but at the same time Rafa was incredible today. I need to see the match on the TV to say for sure, but congrats to him. I need to do better next time.”

Nadal had a walkover in the semifinals on Saturday when Gael Monfils withdrew because of an ankle injury.

Hours later the Spaniard said he would skip this week’s Cincinnati Masters, where he was seeded second behind Djokovic and ahead of Roger Federer.

“No other reason than personally taking care of my body and trying to keep as healthy as I feel now,” he said in a Facebook post.




 

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