Injuries Still Taking Toll On Women Players

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 6th November 2012

Injuries Still Taking Toll On Women Players

INDIAN WELLS, CA - MARCH 09: Jelena Jankovic of Serbia speaks to the media during the WTA All Access Hour at the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 9, 2011 in Indian Wells, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) |

The WTA ‘s condensed season has certainly pleased the players when it comes to increased vacation time, but as exciting as the Czech Republic’s 3-1 victory over Serena in the Fed Cup final was, three of the main protagonists were affected by injury and illness.

That’s why it’s not surprising that of the four singles players who competed during the weekend _ Czechs Petra Kvitova and Lucie Safarova and Serbs Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic – the only woman to win two matches was Safarova, who was the only healthy player of the lot.

Kvitova has been sick for the past two weeks and while she was able to win her opening match over Ivanovic, she could barely drag herself out of bed before her Sunday match against Ivanovic and felt listless all day. For her part, Ivanovic played well against Kvitova, but the day before against Safarova, she was still feeling the effects of a right hip injury that she sustained at the tournament in Moscow.

And Jankovic, who lost both of her matches, was the worst of all, as what has become a severe back injury prevented her from running at her normal speed or accelerating with her shots in her quick loss to Safarova. She cried for a good half hour after the match.

The 27-year-old Serbian then promised to cut back on her schedule next year. She played 31 events in 2012 (three of them being Fed Cup), the most of anyone in the top 30.

“I am getting older,” she said. “I’ll just try to be ready for the big tournaments. Hopefully I can be healthy and not injured every few weeks, I’ve had one or two injuries for two years and some times they cannot get better so I’ll. Just try to get into the position where I can compete.”

Both Jankovic and Ivanovic said that they are doubtful to play Serbia’s opening 2013 tie against Slovakia, with Jankovic saying it might be time for some younger players like Bojana Jovanovski and Alexandra Krunic to step in.