Thursday Volley: Serena Williams' Shot at Winning US Open

Every week, the FanHouse tennis team debates a hot issue in the Thursday Volley.

As Serena Williams sits on the sideline for three U.S. Open Series events with a foot injury, there are still doubts as to whether she will come back for the U.S. Open at Flushing Meadows. While her agent says she is "hopeful" to return in time for the Open, nothing is certain around the world's No. 1 player.

If she's able to return, Williams will be retuning to the scene of the crime of last year's tirade against a line judge who called a foot fault at a crucial point in her semifinal match against Kim Clijsters. This year, she hopes to move past the meltdown and put up a better showing.

For the purpose of this week's Volley we'll assume she will recover from her injury in time. But without playing any of the tuneup tournaments, does she have any shot at winning her 14th grand slam singles title at Flushing Meadows?

Chris Sesno: If the rumors of the severity of Williams' foot injury are true, she'll have a mountain to climb in order to win the U.S. Open. Frankly, it seems very unlikely.



There have been pictures of her in an intimidating walking boot and reports that she needed several stitches to repair a deep cut in her foot after stepping on some glass at a restaurant after winning Wimbledon. But this is just the latest of many injuries the 28-year-old has been battling of late. Williams has had recurring knee problems, often surmounting to the point that she can barely move on the court.

We'll have a much better idea of her chances after the draw, but adding up all the injuries plus lack of tuneups will be too much for Williams to bounce back from.

Hal Spivack: There is no doubt Williams can win this year's U.S. Open. Despite the injury, she has enough time to heal before taking the court again for the start of the U.S. Open on August 30. She has been the most dominant female on the WTA tour for years now. Believe it or not, she has been playing some of her best tennis at 28, which is still relatively young.

Williams comes into the U.S. Open with 13 career major victories, the most among active female players. In her last major at Wimbledon, she blew by the field with a domineering serve -- and that was on grass. Imagine what that serve will look like on hard court in Flushing this summer?

Williams is currently the top-ranked player on tour and for good reason. Quite frankly, there is no one below her that should instill any fear into the American -- other than her sister, Venus -- with the way things have been shaping this year.

She captured this year's Australian Open and did not drop a set during the entire tournament at Wimbledon. Williams did that without playing one tuneup event on grass, and I don't think the time off will hurt her chances too much. There's no way her serve will be touched on the hard courts at the U.S. Open. Serena only had her serve broken three times throughout Wimbledon.

Sesno: There's no question she's the best player on WTA Tour right now, but this latest injury will be too much for her to recover from. The hard court is certainly one of her better surfaces, but it also takes a harder toll on the body. She's been pulling out of an exceptionally high number of tournaments this year for injury, so it's unlikely she'll be 100 percent by the end of August.

Last year, Williams played in all three tuneup events before the U.S. Open. And while she took an early exit in Cincinnati, she got some good practice with a quarterfinal loss to Samantha Stosur in Stanford and a semifinal loss to Elena Dementieva in Toronto. The tuneups helped her into the Open semis, but nothing could have prepared any of us for how that match would end.

When she won Flushing in 2008, she played in Stanford and got some extra warmup at the Beijing Olympics. In 2007, however, she didn't enter any tournaments between Wimbledon and the U.S. Open and the hard-court transition was too much as she took a quarterfinal exit at the hands of Justine Henin.

She may be the best player in the game right now, but this is just not her year for the U.S. Open.

Spivack: If it is not her year at the Open, I'm not sure whose year it is then. That is why I think, even with her foot injury, Serena will be the safest bet come September. She was unstoppable throughout Wimbledon, and I think the time off will be a good thing for her. It allows her body to rest and recuperate. For some players tuneup events are vital; however, Serena is too good at this stage to need that kind of competitive practice in the sweltering summer.

She'll get the hitting practice she needs right before the tournament with Venus. She'll also use the doubles tournament and the first couple of rounds in singles at the Open to get her feet back under her -- just in time to claim her 14th career major victory.