Top-ranked Serena Williams, in her first tournament since succumbing to a bout of physical weakness in a disturbing Wimbledon exit, said her weariness was caused by a virus that had her bedridden for three days.
Williams, who will make her return on Wednesday in a WTA event at Stanford University, said she has recovered and is ready to begin working towards a third consecutive US Open crown and 18th grand slam singles title.
Read more: Questions may finally be answered in Serena Williams’ return
“I feel very good,” she said. “I feel very happy to be here, so it’s good.”
But Williams said she had been concerned after a bizarre end to her women’s doubles match with sister Venus at Wimbledon, which began with trainers examining Serena before the match.
She struggled to bounce or toss the ball on serves and double faulted four times in a row in the third game before the match was stopped.
“They just said I was really ill and really under the weather, and I just wasn’t doing very well,” Williams said.
“I was really scared after because I didn’t realise 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 said she had no idea her struggles had people worried, in part because by the time she learnt of it she had put the event behind her.
“I heard a lot of the response weeks and weeks later because I didn’t leave my house or my bed for a few days,” Williams said.
“But by the time that happened when I read or heard about it from other people I was just like, ‘Oh really, I already moved on’. I was working out and starting to try to play again.”
Williams also made the most of three weeks off to help her recover from the virus.
“After Wimbledon I stayed around in Europe because I was going to play in Bastad, and I feel so bad about not being able to play there,” she said.
“I ended up going on what I called ‘vacation’, which is like when you have fun in the sun but you practise in the day, in the morning. I tried to practise very early so I can have fun later.”
Williams, who has won at least two majors in four of the past five years, has not won one this season.
The 32-year-old American made a fourth-round exit at the Australian Open, was knocked out in the second round of the French Open and lost in the third round at Wimbledon.
Williams’s older sister Venus suffers from Sjogren’s syndrome, an auto-immune disorder that can cause weakness.
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MORE ON INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE
Read more from Aya Iskandarani
'O'
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The biog
Name: Abeer Al Bah
Born: 1972
Husband: Emirati lawyer Salem Bin Sahoo, since 1992
Children: Soud, born 1993, lawyer; Obaid, born 1994, deceased; four other boys and one girl, three months old
Education: BA in Elementary Education, worked for five years in a Dubai school
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
Sreesanth's India bowling career
Tests 27, Wickets 87, Average 37.59, Best 5-40
ODIs 53, Wickets 75, Average 33.44, Best 6-55
T20Is 10, Wickets 7, Average 41.14, Best 2-12
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Ammar 808:
Maghreb United
Sofyann Ben Youssef
Glitterbeat
RESULTS
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 2,200m
Winner: Arjan, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer).
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m
Winner: Jap Nazaa, Royston Ffrench, Irfan Ellahi.
6pm: Al Ruwais Group 3 (PA) Dh300,000 1,200m
Winner: RB Lam Tara, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinal.
6.30pm: Shadwell Gold Cup Prestige Dh125,000 1,600m
Winner: AF Sanad, Bernardo Pinheiro, Khalifa Al Neyadi.
7pm: Shadwell Farm Stallions Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,600m
Winner: Jawal Al Reef, Patrick Cosgrave, Abdallah Al Hammadi.
7.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 1,600m
Winner: Dubai Canal, Harry Bentley, Satish Seemar.
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