Serena Williams’ absence from tennis could stretch to almost a year after two new health scares — a blood clot in her lungs followed by a hematoma — have added to her injury woes.
Her agents confirmed on Wednesday that Williams was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism last week and later needed treatment for a hematoma. The 13-time Grand Slam champion hasn’t played an official match since winning Wimbledon last July because of a foot injury she sustained not on the court but at a restaurant.
Her latest health problems have been “extremely hard, scary and disappointing,” Williams said in a statement. “I am doing better.”
“I’m at home now and working with my doctors to keep everything under control. I know I will be OK, but am praying and hoping this will all be behind me soon. While I can’t make any promises now on my return, I hope to be back by early summer. That said, my main goal is to make sure I get there safely,” she said.
People magazine first reported on Williams’ condition, quoting spokeswoman Nicole Chabot as saying Williams underwent “emergency treatment” on Monday for a hematoma suffered as a result of treatment for “a more critical situation,” the pulmonary embolism.
The 29-year-old Williams was treated at a Los Angeles hospital then returned to her home.
“Thankfully everything was caught in time,” her agents said in a statement. “With continued doctor visits to monitor her situation, she is recuperating at home under strict medical supervision.”
Williams has been out of competition since she cut her right foot on broken glass at a restaurant shortly after winning her fourth Wimbledon title on July 3. Her comeback has been repeatedly delayed by complications with the injury.
Williams had surgery after initially hurting her foot and pulled out of the US Open. She resumed practicing in September, but kept pushing back her return and needed an additional operation in October.
Williams missed the Australian Open in January, where she was the two-time defending champion.
Chabot told the magazine the embolism was discovered after Williams returned to Los Angeles from New York, where she had gone “for doctor appointments for the ongoing issues with her foot.”
Mark Adelman, chief of vascular surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center, said a patient with a pulmonary embolism would need to take an anticoagulant for six to 12 months, but could play sports on the medication.
“A blood clot can occur in any vein or extremity, most commonly in the leg, and can travel to the lung,” Adelman wrote in an e-mail. “Prior surgery, air travel, prolonged sitting, birth control pills, obesity and pregnancy can predispose a patient to a blood clot in the leg that can travel to the lung.”
Adelman said if a clot-dissolving agent is used to treat an embolism, it can result in bleeding around the catheter used to deliver the drug. Williams’ agents said the hematoma was removed.
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
‘KHELIFMANIA’: In the weeks since the Algerian boxer won gold in Paris, national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women In the weeks since Algeria’s Imane Khelif won an Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing, athletes and coaches in the North African nation say national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women. Khelif’s image is practically everywhere, featured in advertisements at airports, on highway billboards and in boxing gyms. The 25-year-old welterweight’s success in Paris has vaulted her to national hero status, especially after Algerians rallied behind her in the face of uninformed speculation about her gender and eligibility to compete. Amateur boxer Zougar Amina, a medical student who has been practicing for a year, called Khelif an
Crowds descended on the home of 17-year-old Chinese diver Quan Hongchan after she won two golds at the Paris Olympics while gymnast Zhang Boheng hid in a Beijing airport toilet to escape overzealous throngs of fans. They are just two recent examples of what state media are calling “toxic fandom” and Chinese authorities have vowed to crack down on it. Some of the adulation toward China’s sports stars has been more sinister — fans obsessing over athletes’ personal lives, cyberbullying opponents or slamming supposedly crooked judges. Experts say it mirrors the kind of behavior once reserved for entertainment celebrities before
GOING GLOBAL: The regular season fixture is part of the football league’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the sport to international destinations The US National Football League (NFL) breaks new ground in its global expansion strategy tomorrow when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in the first-ever grid-iron game staged in Brazil. For one night only, the land of Pele and ‘The Beautiful Game’ will get a rare glimpse into the bone-crunching world of American football as the Packers and Eagles collide at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, the 46,000-seat home of soccer club Corinthians. The regular season fixture is part of the NFL’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the US’ most popular sport to new territories following previous international fixtures
RSS