With Serena out, who has a shot?

Wimbledon champion Serena Williams has somewhat mysteriously pulled out of the U.S. Open Series tournaments leading up to New York, claiming that the cut on her foot that she sustained when stepping on glass is too severe to allow her to play until that least the curtain is drawn on American's Grand Slam on August 30.

Samantha Stosur is hoping to build off a solid spring on the North American hard courts.

Matthew Stockman

Without world No. 1 Serena around and another prime-time player — seven-time Grand Slam champion Justine Henin — out until October, the summer season is prime opportunity for other players to establish or re-establish themselves for a big run in New York.

There are a slew of players capable of rearing their heads, but outside of Serena, all have substantial question marks. At this week's Bank of the West Classic at Stanford University, the first WTA Premier tournament of the hard-court summer, veterans such as Sam Stosur, Elena Dementieva, Maria Sharapova and Marion Bartoli are all looking to push their games up to threatening levels, while youngsters like Agnieszka Radwanska, Yanina Wickmayer, Victoria Azarenka and Dominika Cibulkova are trying to maintain the “massive potential” moniker.

Next week, No. 2 Jelena Jankovic and Wimbledon finalist Vera Zvonareva head to the tournament in San Diego, and then every player of note including defending U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters, soon to be world No. 4 Venus Williams and 2009 U.S. Open finalist Caroline Wozniacki will play in Cincinnati.

But the tour is waiting to hear about the physical progress of 13-time Grand Slam champion Williams, who didn't manage to win the U.S. Open last year, falling to Clijsters in a highly controversial match. To many other competitors, Serena will still be the player to beat, even though it's highly unusual for any competitor, regardless of how great they are, to enter a major and win it with no play over a two-month period when she's been injured.

To some, though, Serena is a player apart.

“It's not a problem for her,” said Bartoli. “She won Wimbledon, she can have the summer off. She arrived three days before Wimbledon and still won it. The first week is like practice matches for her and then she will be in the top of (her) game. Last year, when she lost to Kim it was very close and she hadn't played that much and Kim was just coming back and she had the surprise effect. She won't have it this year.”

Even though Serena likely will return slightly out of shape given that she won't be able to run for at least a few weeks due to her foot injury, Bartoli says that won't matter much, as Serena has the largest arrow in her quiver.

“Serena can serve four aces in game and a you won't touch the ball for four or five games in a row,” she said. “She can serve every type of serve everywhere in the box anytime she wants. That's a big weapon and she's quite intimidating when you face her on the other side of the net. You don't feel comfortable.”

Dementieva doesn't believe it will be quite that easy, but still gives the 28-year-old American a good shot at the title. The Russian is a rhythm player who likes to get a lot of matches under her belt, and it's hard for her to imagine going into a major cold, but she's always spent much more time on court than Serena has, playing 824 matches to Serena's 575 even though they turned pro right around the same time. But Serena's lighter schedule has paid off much greater dividends.

“It makes it much more difficult to win a Grand Slam without playing any tournaments, even if you only play the week before,” Dementieva said. “But Serena has so much experience and knows how to do it. When it comes to the Grand Slams she's always at her best, no matter how bad she was playing a couple weeks before. Maybe she has so much confidence in herself and doesn't need to get the confidence beforehand because she always feels that she's the best one.”

But analyzing what Serena can and cannot do in New York isn't going to mean a whole lot for the other players, none of whom have been consistently impressive throughout the year at the majors and all who need to firm up their games.

For the first time in her career, Stosur is the top seed at a major tournament at Stanford. Now ranked No. 5, the Aussie who knocked off Serena and Henin to reach the French Open final, is trying to find a mental groove on the hard courts that would make her a major contender in New York. She has the style to triumph, but did play a little soft in her loss to Schiavone and was underwhelming in her defeat to Kaia Kanepi at Wimbledon.

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“I feel pretty comfortable at No. 5, but it's still like, 'Wow, it's me there,” and not other people I once saw in that spot,” Stosur said. “But it's where I've always wanted to get to and I've got to believe I belong there.”

The clock is seriously ticking on the 28-year-old Dementieva, who has reached the semis at all four Grand Slams in her career but was forced to pull out of this year's Wimbledon with a calf injury, the first major she has missed in the past 11 years.

Some say she's the best women's player not to have won a major, others think that it's Jankovic. The former Olympic gold medalist Dementieva has the physical tools to win a Slam but for whatever reason, hasn't mentally put it together. Her summer is all about peaking for the Open, so she's not going to crush herself if she loses early at Stanford.

“I love to play and win and it's always disappointing to lose. Maybe I'm taking (it) a little easier now, but it doesn't mean that I don't care,” said Dementieva.

Bartoli, a former top 10 player who won the Stanford title last year over Venus Williams and reached the 2007 final, can't shake the feeling that she will some day reach her goals, which appear to be pretty lofty for a hard-hitting player whose movement is limited and whose game is often predictable.

But that won't stop her from dreaming, and without Serena around, it's a little easier to avoid on-court nightmares.

“I'm desperate to be back in the final of a Grand Slam and to get a one-digit ranking,” the 14th-ranked Bartoli said. “I've had some great memories, but the thing is that when you do you are addicted to it, and I want to have to back again.”