Tennis superstar Serena Williams was treated for a potentially life-threatening blood clot in 2011 after hurting her foot, and again last year after giving birth to a baby girl. But she has her eyes set on the court once more BY JEANNIE NUSS PHOTO BY GETTY/SCOTT BARBOUR S erena Williams is an astonishing athlete and one of the greatest tennis players of all time. So it came as a shock to many when she was hospitalized in 2011 for pulmonary embolisms, clots that block blood flow to the lungs. Williams was 29 at the time and recovering from a foot injury she sustained in 2010. The embolisms further delayed her return to the court for almost a year. Pulmonary embolisms can be fatal; in fact, sudden death is the first symptom in about a quarter of cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Williams told NBC's Today in 2011 that the embolism was the "scariest moment in my life." "I had a lot of swelling in my leg, which really is a telltale sign of an embolism, and I could not breathe." After doctors couldn't find anything in her leg, they ordered a scan of her lungs. FALL 2018 11