Serena Williams Recovered From Illness, Ready For Return

Serena Williams is recovered from an illness that left her bedridden for days and is ready to return to the court and play tennis. Williams fell ill during Wimbledon and attempted to play through the viral infection at the meet, but had to leave after she lost equilibrium during a women’s doubles match with sister Venus.

Serena told reporters that it was only days later, when she was able to clear her head again, that she realized how serious her illness was. NBC News reports that Williams explained, “It was interesting and I was scared after. I didn’t realize how I felt until later. In the moment I didn’t realize how sick I was. It’s weird but that’s the fight in me. I never know when to say when.”

Thanks to sister Venus Williams, Serena understood when it was time to leave. If it weren’t for her older sister, Williams said she wouldn’t have left. The tennis star recalled, “[Venus] kept saying, ‘Walk off the court, I’m the older sister and I say you have to leave.’ ”

Serena’s comments were the first she made since the bizarre incident during the Wimbledon match which saw the umpire ask the No. 1 player whether she was well enough to continue playing. The Telegraph notes that Williams struggled to bounce or toss the ball on serves and doubled faulted four times in a row in the third game before the match was halted.

She recalled, “[The doctors] said I was really ill and really under the weather and I just wasn’t doing very well. I was really scared after because I didn’t realize how I felt until later and it’s just, you know, ‘Serena, keep your time, you will have the rest of your life to keep playing tennis hopefully.’ ”

Williams assured she is now ready to begin working toward her third consecutive US Open crown and 18th Grand Slam singles title. She said, “I feel very good. I feel very happy to be here [at Stanford University], so it’s good.”

After three weeks of taking it easy, Serena Williams was able to get back to tennis. During her time off, she got much-needed rest before resuming a full schedule that included a working vacation and a movie shoot.

Now, Serena will meet the Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova on Wednesday in the second round of the Bank of West Classic. Serena Williams used Bank of the West to restart her tennis career in 2011, so it would be no surprise if the tennis star comes out on top again.

[Image by mirsasha]