Serena Williams' Elbow Injury Won't Derail Grand Slam Hopes

Less than one week after she collected her sixth title at Wimbledon, Serena Williams announced Thursday that she is pulling out of the Swedish Open with an elbow injury. 

Having won the first three majors of the 2015 season, the Australian and French Opens before Wimbledon, Williams has an opportunity to become the fourth-ever women's player to complete the Grand Slam in the same calendar year.

Her dominant season could be ranked with the likes of Maureen Connolly Brinker in 1953, Margaret Court in 1970 and Steffi Graf in 1988 as the greatest of all time. 

But with the U.S. Open starting on August 31, the announcement of her elbow injury is disconcerting for her Grand Slam hopes, especially when the Associated Press reported that she told tournament organizers that she "was having some pain in my elbow, and I felt a little bit in my match. But this morning it really exploded [in practice]...I really couldn't hit serves."

With her serving game as such a dominant asset to her repertoire, her inability to do so at 100 percent would make her plenty beatable at the U.S. Open. When healthy, she topped out at 121 mph on her serve during the final at Wimbledon against Garbine Muguruza.

ESPN Stats & Info showed just how hard it was to return Williams' serve at Wimbledon:

Even while feeling discomfort in her elbow on Wednesday in the first round of the Swedish Open, she easily beat Ysaline Bonaventure 6-2, 6-1. But the pain proved to be too much on Thursday. 

While the injury is alarming, it will not damage her chances at winning the U.S. Open. Williams has a little over six weeks until the tournament and will most likely do everything she can to stay in top shape while resting that elbow. 

An elbow injury, which is common among tennis players, could be attributed to playing so many matches in the past three months. 

Since May 2, Williams has played in 23 matches over five different tournaments. In three of those tournaments, she appeared in the semifinals or later, ensuring that she was going to be plenty busy on the court.

It's obvious that this shot at history means a lot to her, choosing not to speak about the Grand Slam, as it might run the risk of tempting the fates. She does not even mention the title and has directed the media to do the same, referring to it as the "G" word. Wimbledon shows one of these moments toward the end of her interview after she won the tournament title:

The AP also reported that "the 2013 Swedish Open champion said she wanted to do what was best for her body, and made the right decision." Which only makes it even more clear that she is thinking ahead to August 31. To me, the best remedy for such an injury is some well-deserved rest and relaxation for the next few weeks. 

If she wants to make sure she is in competition form, she could test how her elbow holds up in about three weeks at the 2015 Bank of the West Open beginning on August 3. Expect her to compete at the Rogers Cup on August 10 and Western & Southern Open on August 17 if she skips the Bank of the West Open. That way, she'll be right as rain for the U.S. Open.

Stats courtesy of ESPN.com