Having cruised into the U.S. Open quarterfinals in search of her third straight title, Serena Williams’ Achilles’ heel may be her right foot.
During her quarterfinals doubles match Tuesday with sister Venus, Serena used a medical timeout early in the second set to get treatment on her foot. She took off her shoe and a trainer taped up the foot.
Williams served two double faults in the final game of a 7-6 (5), 6-4 loss to the Russian pair of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.
“There’s nothing to worry about. I was just getting it retaped,” Williams told a USTA official after the match, declining to speak to the media.
It was the second straight year the sisters failed to win a Grand Slam doubles title, their last coming at Wimbledon in 2012.
But the bigger issue is how this will affect Serena when she faces Flavia Pennetta in the women’s quarterfinals on Wednesday night. Williams is 6-1 versus Pennetta in her career, having won the last six times they have played. Her only loss to Pennetta was a walkover in 2005.
Williams hasn’t won a Grand Slam this year, and had failed to move past the fourth round in the previous majors. But she had plowed into the U.S. Open quarters without dropping a set and losing a combined 17 games in four rounds.
She has had injury issues this year, though, most notably the viral infection — as it was labeled — that contributed to her breakdown in a doubles match with Venus at Wimbledon. The illness caused her to miss the following tournament, the Swedish Open.
Serena also dealt with a leg injury in April and withdrew from the Madrid Open soon after with a left thigh injury.
The 32-year old, five-time U.S. Open champion has won 17 Grand Slam singles titles, which puts her fourth all-time, one behind Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert.
Pennetta declined to discuss her upcoming match with Williams after speaking with the media following her women’s doubles win with Martina Hingis on Tuesday.
“I’m not going to talk about that match,” Pennetta said.