Serena Williams Withdraws From Cincinnati Due “Right Big Toe Injury Aggravation”

CINCINNATI -- Serena Williams withdrew from the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati Wednesday before her scheduled second round match against Samantha Stosur, citing a “right big toe injury aggravation.”

Williams had missed her scheduled practice session in the morning, and her withdrawal was announced shortly thereafter.

It’s a totally reasonable decision for Serena to make, and in many ways it’s surprising that she came to Cincinnati at all. Having already played (and won) 12 matches on hard courts this already this summer in Stanford and Toronto, Serena has plenty of preparation under her belt for the US Open. And she was clearly not at her best in her first match in Cincinnati, a 6-3, 7-6(5) win over Czech qualifier Lucie Hradecka.

Caution with an injury to her foot (which had previously kept her out for almost a year) is smart. After her initial injury, Serena underwent surgery to keep her toe from being “droopy.“

Serena confirmed in her post-withdrawal press conference that the injury was related to the one she suffered in Munich in July of 2010, when her foot was injured by broken glass.

SBN: Is this related to the injury that you suffered in Germany, with the glass in your foot, at all?
Serena Williams: It is, but not nearly as extreme. It’s just a bit of an aggravation because I think I’ve been pounding it a lot and playing a lot.

Though few think it is a bad decision for Serena, the withdrawal this week did raise some eyebrows, given the upcoming wedding this weekend of her good friend Kim Kardashian to New Jersey Nets power forward Kris Humphries.

It seemed worth asking if her newly cleared schedule this weekend allowed her to make the wedding after all.

SBN: I’ve heard that one of your friends, Kim Kardashian, is getting married this weekend. Are you planning on attending that now?
Serena Williams: I hadn’t. I mean, now that I have time I probably will. I hadn’t thought about it, so...

Her eyes as I asked the question indicated something slightly different than what her mouth answered.

Chosing a wedding over a third US Open warm-up tournament isn’t a problem, really. Just wear smart shoes, Serena. Between your foot injury at a restaurant in Munich and Kim Clijsters’ injuring her ankle dancing at her nephew’s wedding, tennis has had more than it’s fair share of injuries recently that never would have happened if everyone just wore hiking boots all the time.

Stay tuned to SB Nation’s coverage of the 2011 US Open Series at SBNation.com as well as on Twitter, @DailyForehand .