tennisIlove09
Dec 16th, 2006, 04:55 AM
Venus' Injury Issues Create Cause For Concern
http://www.sportsmediainc.net/tennisweek/VenusMiami05fistSMullane.jpg
Photo By Susan Mullane By Alberto Amalfi
12/14/2006
The ever-present adhesive tape that protects Venus Williams' troublesome wrists serves as a reminder of how vulnerable the former World No. 1 can be to injury. Williams once dispensed punishment on court with the routine nature of a nurse handing out vitamin C pills, but spent much of this season seemingly playing in pain.
The two-time U.S. Open champion, who withdrew from the 2006 Flushing Meadows major citing "continuation of pain in her left wrist", was limited to just 19 matches this year due to injury and her ongoing injury issues have caused concern among some, including U.S. Fed Cup captain Zina Garrison.
The 26-year-old Williams should be entering the prime of her career, but has struggled simply to stay healthy and sustain a regular schedule. The 2005 Wimbledon winner lost to Jelena Jankovic in the third round of the grass-court Grand Slam in July then played just two matches the rest of the season. The five-time Grand Slam champion has played 50 or more matches in a season just once in the past four years.
The 46th-ranked Williams has been plagued by the lingering wrist injury, tendonitis in her knee and an abdominal injury in recent years. Williams' physical style of play and her tendency to sometimes launch herself into off-balance shots has raised health concerns in Garrison.
"I've actually been concerned about her health for some time now," Garrison said in a conference call with the media on Wednesday. "Venus is long, lanky. She looks very strong, athletic. Sometimes it can kind of wear on your body the way her body moves kind of all over the place sometimes."
Suggesting that sporadic competition can exacerbate lingering injuries or contribute to new ones, Garrison, who has known the Williams Sisters for several years, served as a coach on the 2000 U.S. Olympic team when Venus swept gold medals in both singles and doubles to join Helen Wills Moody (1924) as only the second women to strike gold in both singles and doubles in the Olympics. Williams missed the first four months of that 2000 season with tendonitis in both wrists, but bounced back to capture successive major titles at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open that year.
Garrison believes one way Williams can acclimate her body to the rigors of the WTA Tour is to play a more consistent schedule once she has fully regained her health, though traditionally neither Venus nor Serena have adhered to an extensive annual tournament schedule. "I think it's a situation where I'm a firm believer I think you have to play more to kind of keep your body going," Garrison said. "Sometimes when you have long breaks, you come back, you're playing as hard as you did when you left off, I think it brings on more possibilities to be injured." Williams is scheduled to start the 2007 season playing the Hopman Cup mixed team exhibition event with fellow Floridian Mardy Fish in Perth, Australia.
http://www.sportsmediainc.net/tennisweek/VenusMiami05fistSMullane.jpg
Photo By Susan Mullane By Alberto Amalfi
12/14/2006
The ever-present adhesive tape that protects Venus Williams' troublesome wrists serves as a reminder of how vulnerable the former World No. 1 can be to injury. Williams once dispensed punishment on court with the routine nature of a nurse handing out vitamin C pills, but spent much of this season seemingly playing in pain.
The two-time U.S. Open champion, who withdrew from the 2006 Flushing Meadows major citing "continuation of pain in her left wrist", was limited to just 19 matches this year due to injury and her ongoing injury issues have caused concern among some, including U.S. Fed Cup captain Zina Garrison.
The 26-year-old Williams should be entering the prime of her career, but has struggled simply to stay healthy and sustain a regular schedule. The 2005 Wimbledon winner lost to Jelena Jankovic in the third round of the grass-court Grand Slam in July then played just two matches the rest of the season. The five-time Grand Slam champion has played 50 or more matches in a season just once in the past four years.
The 46th-ranked Williams has been plagued by the lingering wrist injury, tendonitis in her knee and an abdominal injury in recent years. Williams' physical style of play and her tendency to sometimes launch herself into off-balance shots has raised health concerns in Garrison.
"I've actually been concerned about her health for some time now," Garrison said in a conference call with the media on Wednesday. "Venus is long, lanky. She looks very strong, athletic. Sometimes it can kind of wear on your body the way her body moves kind of all over the place sometimes."
Suggesting that sporadic competition can exacerbate lingering injuries or contribute to new ones, Garrison, who has known the Williams Sisters for several years, served as a coach on the 2000 U.S. Olympic team when Venus swept gold medals in both singles and doubles to join Helen Wills Moody (1924) as only the second women to strike gold in both singles and doubles in the Olympics. Williams missed the first four months of that 2000 season with tendonitis in both wrists, but bounced back to capture successive major titles at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open that year.
Garrison believes one way Williams can acclimate her body to the rigors of the WTA Tour is to play a more consistent schedule once she has fully regained her health, though traditionally neither Venus nor Serena have adhered to an extensive annual tournament schedule. "I think it's a situation where I'm a firm believer I think you have to play more to kind of keep your body going," Garrison said. "Sometimes when you have long breaks, you come back, you're playing as hard as you did when you left off, I think it brings on more possibilities to be injured." Williams is scheduled to start the 2007 season playing the Hopman Cup mixed team exhibition event with fellow Floridian Mardy Fish in Perth, Australia.