Los Angeles, Aug 02: World`s top-ranked player Serena Williams will not be adding US Open to her collection of grand slam titles this year. Williams had knee surgery yesterday and will be resting for 6 to 8 weeks, leaving her unable to defend her US open title later this month in New York. Serena underwent surgery to repair a partial tear in the mid-portion of the quadriceps tendon of her left knee at an undisclosed location in Los Angeles.
The surgery was done by Dr Rodney Gabriel on an outpatient basis. Williams was resting at home in Los Angeles, her spokeswoman said. Her father, Richard, and other family members were with her.
"Serena has suffered from quadriceps tendinitis of her left knee for many years, which has been controlled with medication and physical therapy treatments," Gabriel said.
She recently developed pain that, although improved with treatment, increased whenever she resumed tennis activities.
On Monday, Williams underwent an MRI, which showed a partial tear in the tendon and surgery was recommended, Gabriel said. "I expect a 100 per cent recovery and Serena`s speedy return to competitive tennis," he added.
There was no comment from Williams in statements from her representative on the WTA tour.
She had withdrawn from three California tournaments in the last three weeks because of the knee problem. She was scheduled to play last week at Stanford, this week in Carlsbad and next week in Carson.
Serena hasn`t played since beating older sister Venus in the Wimbledon final nearly a month ago.
Bureau Report