Serena Williams vs. Maria Sharapova: The Match That Wasn't

PARIS—Maybe the signal was clear Monday morning. Serena Williams’ name was absent from the practice schedule.

Meanwhile, at 11 a.m. on the dot, Maria Sharapova took a light jog on to Court 3 at Roland Garros. Her coach, Thomas Hogstedt, fed balls to a hitting partner. Every few minutes, Hogstedt issued a command for a specific shot sequence. True to Sharapova’s style, each time the reply was a flat, powerful drive. Focused as usual, hunched in deep concentration, Sharapova was certainly well aware that today might have been her best chance to earn a win over Williams for the first time since 2004.

And then, alas, Williams was forced to withdraw.

“I unfortunately have been having some issues with my pec, my pec muscle, and has unfortunately been getting worse to the point where right now I can't actually serve," said Williams. "It's kind of hard to play when I can't physically serve.”

Full Serena Williams press conference:

The pain had begun for Williams during Saturday evening’s singles match against Julia Goerges. It had gotten worse Sunday night during a doubles match that she and Venus had lost. There followed several hours of treatment. But the situation was clear. As Serena’s coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, told Tennis Channel this afternoon, there was “no chance she would be able to play normal tennis.”

Mouratoglou was certain that had Williams played today, the injury would have gotten worse. An ultrasound today only revealed so much. An MRI is scheduled for tomorrow.

“It is difficult, because like I keep saying, I have given up so much to be here,” said Williams. “You know, there is times where I'm on the court and I'm practicing, and I look on the monitor and I see my daughter and she's playing and I want to be there, but I know that these are the sacrifices you have to make to live out your dream. And I have made every sacrifice that I could. So it's extremely disappointing. But also, I made a promise to myself and to my coach and to my team that if I'm not at least 60 percent or 50 percent, then I probably shouldn't play.”

The sad thing was that leading up to Roland Garros, Williams had spent five weeks training as hard as Mouratoglou had ever seen her work. “It’s an incredible effort,” he said. But he also estimated that this injury would not heel rapidly. And once it healed, one couldn’t help but one wonder, how that affect Williams’ practice regimen prior to the July 2 start of Wimbledon.

“I was looking forward to my match against Serena today and am disappointed that she had to withdraw,” said Sharapova in a statement released by the WTA. “I wish her a speedy recovery and hope she returns to the tour soon.”

Patrick Mouratoglou discusses why Serena had to withdraw:

Sharapova’s likely next opponent is Garbine Muguruza.  Though Sharapova has won all three of their prior matches—including a 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 rollercoaster of a quarterfinal on the way to the Roland Garros title in  2014—they haven't played one another in nearly four years.  Since then, Muguruza has won Roland Garros (defeating Serena in the 2016 final) and Wimbledon (defeating Venus in the 2017 final). Beyond that, Sharapova could play the winner of the quarterfinal between Simona Halep (Sharapova’s victim in the 2014 Roland Garros final) and the woman who beat her handily at this year’s Australian Open, Angelique Kerber.

It is so strange to contemplate what occurs between Williams and Sharapova. Of course, Williams holds the edge in tennis, her 19-2 edge in matches testimony to conclusive dominance. That alone says much. And yet, Sharapova has remained equally driven to excel, snatched up her share of accolades and, like Charlie Brown about to kick that football, never stopped believing that her next match versus Serena would be victorious.

It was one of those cases where it was easy to feel bad for both players, a pair of 30-plus veterans who rank among the greatest competitors in history—not just tennis, but all of sports. One hopes to see them stare across the net from one another once again.

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