Serena Williams Admits Being At High Risk For COVID-19, Shares Plans For Majors

KEY POINTS

Serena Williams admits she is at high risk for COVID-19 as she suffered a recurrence of pulmonary embolisms in 2017
Williams is in the U.S. preparing for his first professional competition in six months
Williams has yet to commit for the Olympics in Tokyo

Serena Williams admitted that her current health condition puts her at high risk for COVID-19. Despite this, the former world No. 1 said she still plans to compete in the US and French Opens this year.

Williams shared that she is being extra cautious with the dangerous conditions brought by the pandemic. The 38-year-old revealed that she suffered a recurrence of pulmonary embolisms – a life-threatening condition involving blood clots inside the lungs - when she gave birth to her daughter, Olympia, in 2017. She first had it in 2011.

“I have been a bit of a recluse,” she said via a report from the Guardian. “I started social distancing in early March. I don’t have full lung capacity, so I’m not sure what would happen to me. I am sure I would be OK, but I don’t want to find out. I have 50 masks I travel with; I don’t ever want to be without one. I am super careful with what I have been doing and everyone in the ‘Serena bubble’ is really protected. It is cool to play tennis, but this is my life and my health, so I have been a little bit neurotic but that is how I have to be.”

Williams is currently in Lexington, Kentucky for the Top Seed Open where she is set to play her first competitive tournament in six-months. The inaugural tournament will serve as a tune-up for the US Open, which is set on August 31 in New York.

Amidst the personal health hazard, the 23-time Grand Slam champion is confident of her participation at the remaining professional tournaments for the calendar year, including the French Open in late September.

“I see myself doing it all if it happens,” she said.

Her plans, however, don’t seem to extend beyond 2020. When asked if she looks forward to competing in Tokyo for the Olympics next year, Williams did not sound committed just yet.

“That is just looking too far ahead, I don’t know if Tokyo plans to be in Tokyo, we will have to wait and see. I don’t know what to expect. One thing I have learned is don’t plan, I am living for the day and for the moment, in a good way but I am not making plans too far out.”

For now, Williams is focused on the tournament at hand, especially that the host state continues to record a rising number of COVID-19 positive cases.