Serena Williams says she could care less about the theory that if she or her sister Venus won the Wimbledon title after being out of the game for so long with injuries, that it would reflect poorly on the WTA,
"Yeah, I'm super happy that I lost. Go, women's tennis," defending champion Serena said sarcastically after her 6-3, 7-6 (6) loss to Marion Bartoli in the fourth round of Wimbledon. It's the first time since 1913 that that the Wimbledon women’s quarterfinals will consist entirely of Europeans.
Serena’s older sister Venus also went down, failing for the third time at a major to Tsvetana Pironkova. It was the first time since 2008 Roland Garros that both sisters have lost at a major on the dame day. "We both want each other to win,” Venus said. "But unfortunately since we weren't able to, we'll both be able to train together, I suppose. Obviously it's not something planned."
Serena's next tournament will be at Stanford during the last week of July. She is also planning on playing Toronto and Cincinnati prior to the U.S. Open. Venus does not have Stanford on her schedule, but says she will ask for a wild card. She also plans on competing at Toronto and Cincinnati.
Serena will plunge to around No. 175 in the rankings when they are released next week; Venus will be ranked no higher than No. 34.
Serena, who suffered a pulmonary embolism in February, says that her doctors have cleared her to practice as hard as she wants to. "It will probably be even more intense because I practiced harder here than I did even coming here," she said. "It will be more intense, which actually is going to give me a better chance in future tournaments."