“Listening to this voice so intimately, anticipating its every ebb and flow, is also how I accepted those final signals when they came.
“One of them came last August at the US Open Behind closed doors, thirty minutes before taking the court, I had a procedure to numb my shoulder to get through the match.
“Shoulder injuries are nothing new for me—over time my tendons have frayed like a string. I’ve had multiple surgeries—once in 2008; another procedure last year—and spent countless months in physical therapy. Just stepping onto the court that day felt like a final victory, when of course it should have been merely the first step toward victory.
“I share this not to garner pity, but to paint my new reality: My body had become a distraction.”
