Serena Williams : Will She Be Ready to Compete at the French Open?

Although Serena Williams recently suffered a pulmonary embolism, there's a good chance the former world number one will be ready to compete at the Grand Slam on the clay court in France twelve weeks from now.

According to the tennis star’s doctors, the condition was caught early and successful treatment was under way, which means the American star need more time to rest in order to be back to a competitive level.

I have never heard of this sort of thing happening to a top athlete, but there's a lot of her life you've never heard about. If they ever make film of her life, it would be amazing.

When I first heard about what happened last week, I wondered if that was the end of her tennis career. And now she's talking about coming back for Roland Garros.

It's typical Serena, who has overcome so many hurdles in her lifetime. Don't rule her out.

But I must say I raised my eyebrows when I saw that reaction.

Only the medics really know, but even if this hadn't happened, with the amount of time she's been off court, any normal tennis player would have taken a long time to get back to their best.

Justine Henin for example, before her retirement announcement, was talking about it being this summer before she'd be back to her best after that elbow injury. That's eight or nine months that she was giving herself before expecting to get back to full form.

Maria Sharapova is still struggling a lot with her serve, while she returned to the WTA Tour after not having played for nine months due to a shoulder surgery.

Remember that the Russian returned to the competition a little more than two years ago.

Of course, Serena's not normal.

We've seen her, many times in her career, take long breaks and then come back, even sometimes when she's been carrying a few extra kilos.

There was one Australian Open a few years back, in 2007, when during the fortnight she seemed to lose eight or nine kilos, it was quite extraordinary. She had not played for months, looked overweight and everyone went "oh, this isn't going to last long." But she got better and better as the tournament progressed and went on to win it.

But this has been a longer lay-off than any of the others, so it's going to be tough. She's that much older and the standard of womens tennis is showing signs of being on the rise again after going through the doldrums in the last three or four years.

But obviously the key thing, is for Serena to get back to full health and that there aren't any complications or implications from this latest setback. And then it really is just a matter of time.

The problem is that because she's had a foot injury, and she hasn't been able to put in the mileage and she hasn't been able to hit many tennis balls, even if she has been looking after herself.

Obviously, she's extraordinarily physically strong, but will she have the stamina for matches? It's going to take time. She is a law unto herself and, who knows, we could well be sitting here in September talking about how she won the French Open (very unlikely) or Wimbledon (much more likely).

If there are no setbacks, I would not be surprised if Serena returns just in time for the French.
Clay is a very demanding surface, which is why it's hard to see the reigning Wimbledon champion lifting the trophy in Paris.

Coming back to competitive tennis after not having played for eleven months is a tough task for any professional athlete. It's even more difficult if you play on a surface you don't like much. Clay forces you to grind and move twice as much as any fast court surfaces.

Until last week, Williams has suffered from a foot injury, which is the worst case scenario if you need to play matches with long rallies, which is the case on clay.

Of course Wimbledon will be another story. Williams will be among the top favorites when she enters the next grass court major.

I don't think she realised at the time how badly she had injured herself. It looks like the first operation didn't go as well as it should have done and she had to go back in again. After the wrist, the foot is the next key part for a tennis player, and she's got to make sure it's right.

The quicker she comes back in many ways, the better. Obviously, she doesn't want to rush it and come back too quick but if she has many months out, you start to wonder.

You have to dispel any normal valuation regarding her ambitions, Roger Federer is another one. He seems such a rational human being, and yet he has such a ferocity and intensity that still burns.

Serena has always shown such unbelievable commitment to win. There's obviously still something still inside her that makes her stwant to win; she is not the type to be defeated by illness or injury. She'll want to go out on her own terms.

Federer is a lot closer to an amazing record than Serena, but maybe she doesn't see it that way and that fires her ambition.

If she had picked up another two or three Grand Slams this year, which all things considered she could have, it would have been possible. Then she'll be heading towards the all-time records. But can she still do it, at the age she is and with this lay-off behind her?

I'll keep saying it, and it's a bit of a cliché, but nothing about Serena should surprise any of us. She is a unique super star.