Serena Williams should be ready for Wimbledon, says her coach
| French Open 2018 |
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| Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 27 May-10 June |
| Coverage: Daily live radio and text commentaries on BBC Radio 5 live, the BBC Sport website and app. |
Former world number one Serena Williams should be fit for Wimbledon, according to her coach Patrick Mouratoglou.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion pulled out of Monday’s last-16 match at the French Open against Maria Sharapova with an injury that affected her serve.
“Within two weeks she should recover and will be able to hit again,” Mouratoglou told BBC Radio 5 live.
“Then she has 15 days to do a lot of fitness and improve her speed on court. She should be ready for Wimbledon.”
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Roland Garros was the first Grand Slam event Williams had entered since she returned to tennis after giving birth to her first child in September 2017.
The 36-year-old had looked in good form in her opening matches before an injury to her right pectoral muscle forced her to pull out of the highly anticipated encounter with long-time rival Sharapova.
“It was a great idea to not play that match against Maria because she couldn’t serve and it would have been difficult to win without serving,” Mouratoglou added.
“Also because it would take an incredible risk to tear the muscle that was very close to being torn.”
Asked whether seven-time Wimbledon singles champion Williams had enough match practice to go deep into this year’s tournament, which begins on 2 July, her coach replied: “I think so.
“On that level, Roland Garros was fantastic because she started not competing great because she had not competed for so long.
“But after the first set of second match the real Serena popped out.”
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Williams beat Kristyna Pliskova and 11th seed Julia Gorges in straight sets in her French Open first and third-round matches. In round two, she fought back from a set down to win against Australian 17th seed Ashleigh Barty.
“I think she is competitive, her level and fitness is back,” Mouratoglou said.
“Plus at Wimbledon she will have the small advantage because she has the serve, which can take her out of bad situations.”