As her 2020 season ends with French Open withdrawal, what next for Serena Williams?

What next for tennis champion Serena Williams? How many times has this question been asked and pondered upon in the 22-year old career of the American superstar?

In 2011, a pulmonary embolism caused a clot in her lung and she missed three straight Grand Slams.

In 2017, she had another close encounter when giving birth during an emergency cesarean section and missed a year of tennis.

In 2020, like all other things, even such questions look different.

Her latest bid for a Grand Slam, which would be a record-equalling No 24, ended as she withdrew from the French Open due to an Achilles injury carried over from the US Open. The injury almost certainly means she will miss the rest of 2020, a season already interrupted with a six-month break due to the coronavirus pandemic. The French Open, the final Major of a troubled season, was her first tournament since turning 39 last week, just another reminder of time.

But does time make exceptions, even for a player like Serena Williams? With two weeks of rest and several more of rehab, what does the future look like? When, rather than if, she is fit there will be no stopping her from another comeback in 2021 but how will the layoff affect her body at this stage?

There are two ways of looking at it.

This year will be her first since 2006 that she failed to make a Grand Slam final and the recent near-misses will hurt. A 13-year run that includes life-saving surgery and childbirth. At the same time, she has reached at least one Grand Slam semi-final every year except 1998 and 2006. No other modern player can match this record.

She has been on the tour since 1998 and has an unmatched record. But as successful as she has been – she is ranked in the Top 10 consistently and was the sixth seed in Paris – her quest seems incomplete. There are and will be many questions about the future, mainly because of one number.

The major talking point after her withdrawal was her bid for the Major No 24 – a title that will equal Margaret Court’s all-time record. She already has the Open Era record when she surpassed Steffi Graf with her 23r Grand Slam at the 2017 Australian Open; while pregnant. But in the minds of tennis fans, and perhaps even Serena, the number is seen as crucial.

Just months after giving birth to daughter, she reached the finals of Wimbledon and the US Open in 2018 and repeated that in 2019. She lost all four finals in straight sets indicating a new vulnerability.

For many, 2020 represented the best chance to get the elusive and she started the season by winning her first title as a mother in Auckland before losing in the third round of Australian Open.

After the sport’s restart, she reached the semi-finals in US Open where six of the world’s top players opted not to play for safety reasons. At Roland Garros, four of the leading 10 are missing and she travelled to Paris despite the short break between surfaces, an injury sustained during the semi-finals, coronavirus restrictions and her own limited success on the red clay. The American has won just three titles in Paris and has withdrawn mid-tournament in two of the last three years.

It’s evident then that another Major is a great motivator for the fierce competitor that Serena is. But it’s not the only one. She said as much after her withdrawal: “I love competing. I love being out here. It’s my job. It’s been my job. And I’m pretty good at it still, so until I feel like I’m not good at it, then I’ll be like, Okay. And I’m so close to some things. I’m almost there. I think that’s what keeps me going.”

On the face of it, Serena didn’t even need No 23 to cement her greatness given her incredible record, longevity and impact on the sport. Similarly, she doesn’t need No 24 to prove anything. But she wants it because that’s just the kind of champion she has been for over two decades on the tour.

Admittedly, a second long layoff in the span of a year is not ideal. The amount of hard yards that she put in during the shutdown is proof that she is in peak physical condition, even if far from her peak form. The chances she is taking after admitting that she is worried for health with her history indicates that she has all the motivation needed.

However, there will be more factors at play than her personal ambition and condition.

Age of course will come up in conversation. At 39, she is 10 years older than the next oldest in the top 10, Simona Halep. All around her are players with time on their side – Bianca Andreescu is 20, Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin is 21 and Naomi Osaka, already a three-time Major champion, is still just 22.

Her body will take longer to heal perhaps, the injury may need more time and rehab. Maybe her speed will be compromised, maybe her power goes down a few notches. What won’t change is her incredible willpower and her dogged, dominant game that has seen her win grueling three-setters regularly in the last month. Indeed, she reversed a slow start in her opener to beat Kristie Ahn 7-6 (2), 6-0. Unlike her sister Venus Williams or Andy Murray – who bowed out in the first round – the 39-year-old has made consistently deep runs whenever she has played and is still a top-10 player.

This is why Serena Williams will always be a contender when she takes the field, where she is unseeded or returning from a layoff. This is also why despite the many questions surrounding her, one can always count on Serena to find the answers to them too.