Martina Navratilova once delivered a scathing verdict on Serena Williams’ shocking retirement during the women’s doubles competition at the 2014 Wimbledon Championships. Navratilova also expressed skepticism about the official explanation for the move.
Williams had a short-lived singles campaign at Wimbledon that year, suffering a shock 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 loss to Aliza Cornet in the third round. Two days later, the American returned to the court for her second-round doubles match alongside her sister Venus Williams. However, Serena’s condition raised immediate concern, as the start of the match had to be delayed by her receiving medical treatment.
Although the American eventually did take the court, she appeared disoriented as she hit four double faults in a row. Trailing 0-3 against Kristina Barrois and Stefanie Voegele, the Williams sisters decided to abandon the match shortly after the umpire halted play to assess Serena’s ability to continue.
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While the tournament announced that the official reason for the American's retirement was a viral illness, Martina Navratilova expressed her doubts about it being the true cause. In an interview with ESPN, she said that it was "inexplicable" that Serena Williams' family and coaching team had let her take the court despite her clearly being in no condition to compete.
"I find it distressing. I think virus, whatever they're saying it was, I don't think that was it. I think it's clear that's not the case. I don't know what it is, but I hope Serena Williams will be OK. And most of all, I don't know how she ended up walking onto the court," Navratilova said.
"It's the most inexplicable thing of all that she was clearly in no state to play a match and that with all the people around her, that they didn't stop her from getting on the court," she added.
Amid the speculation, Serena Williams' coach Patrick Mouratoglou revealed that he hadn't seen her in the two days leading up to the match, which baffled Navratilova. The 18-time Grand Slam champion remarked that the entire situation had placed everyone in a difficult position and reiterated her belief that the issue couldn't just be a virus.
"I've never seen anything like it and hopefully never will again. Everybody was put in such a difficult position, including the WTA. It's not right. It defies logic on so many fronts. The coach said he hadn't seen her for two days. He didn't know anything. How can you be a coach and not know anything? That's wrong. And Venus was just kind of there. You don't know what's going on, but virus was not it, that much is clear," she said.
Navratilova also addressed the claims that Williams was emotionally distressed over her singles loss, arguing that the American shouldn't have taken the court if that was the case. The former World No. 1 emphasized that as a professional tennis player, Williams shouldn't have arrived at the court if she was sick, but if she did, she should've been ready to play.
"[But] why would it take two days? Either you go home or default. I would expect a default before you play. But once you step onto the court, you're a professional tennis player, you've got to be ready to play. No matter what is ailing you or no matter if you did anything to get you in that state or you're sick or whatever, you don't step on the court. You don't step on the court no matter what," she added.
Serena Williams: "I suck right now at doubles... Venus Williams should get a new partner
During her post-match press conference, Serena Williams was asked how she felt about continuing her doubles campaign after her exit from the singles competition at the 2014 Wimbledon Championships.
Interestingly, the American expressed her belief that she "sucked" at doubles and revealed that she had even told Venus Williams that she didn't want to compete in the format anymore because of her perceived poor level.
"Well, I don't know. I suck right now at doubles. I told Venus the other day like, I don't even want to play because I'm so bad right now. She should get a new partner," Serena Williams said.
Serena Williams made an impressive comeback at the grasscourt Major in 2015, beating Garbine Muguruza 6-4, 6-4 in the final to clinch her 21st Grand Slam title. She went on to defend her title in 2016 and even won the women's doubles trophy with Venus Williams.
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