Venus Williams Lauds Serena Williams’ Performance at Wimbledon: “Her Level Was Extraordinarily High”

Serena Williams returned to the tour after four years at the Queen’s Club Championships but played only doubles with Victoria Mboko. They withdrew after winning the first match (Mboko suffered an injury during her singles match), and later Serena competed alongside Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Muchova in the Berlin Open, only to lose in the first round.

Wimbledon kept everyone guessing when they were announcing the wild cards. Because Serena kept saying she had no idea about her singles participation, the tennis world was eager to see to whom Wimbledon would hand the last wild card. And it was obviously given to the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion.

Serena locked horns with Australia’s Maya Joint in the first round, which was her first singles match since the third round of the 2022 US Open. The seven-time Wimbledon singles champion lost the first set easily but forced a comeback in the second set, winning it through the tie-breaker.

Serena eventually lost the match with a 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3 scoreline. She has not yet revealed where she will play next. But her sister, Venus Williams, will play at the Citi Open, and in the pre-tournament press conference, she lauded Serena’s level in the Wimbledon singles match.

She played brilliantly in that match. I think her level was extraordinarily high. It was very bad luck. Sometimes you face players who are on a roll, and they don’t seem to maintain that level afterward. They’ll have to ask her what’s next, but she looks great.

The Williams sisters were also scheduled to play doubles at SW19, but they had to withdraw because Serena suffered a knee injury during her singles match. Serena and Venus, winners of 14 Grand Slam doubles titles, won their last Major doubles at the 2016 Wimbledon.

Alexandra Eala on why she won’t be playing doubles with Venus Williams

Venus Williams is competing in both singles and doubles at the Citi Open. In singles, she is set to lock horns with Anastasia Potapova, while in doubles, she will be playing alongside Diana Shnaider. Venus, at first, paired up with Alexandra Eala, but the Filipino chose to focus only on singles. In the pre-tournament press conference, the 21-year-old explained why she had to make this decision.

I have so much respect for Venus. I am so grateful for every opportunity that I have to be around her, to learn from her, to hit with her. But I do think this is my first week coming back, and I think that Venus is someone who deserves a partner who can give their all physically, emotionally, mentally when they’re on court with her.

Eala has already played doubles with the tennis legend. At the Bad Homburg Open, the pair reached the quarterfinals.

I think right now I think I can only do that for singles. I don’t have the capacity yet to be able to give that in both singles and doubles. I’m really grateful for the opportunity that I had, or have, and hopefully we see more of it in the future.

Alexandra Eala added

Eala, who scripted history at Wimbledon by becoming the first Filipino in the Open Era to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament, will face Qinwen Zheng in the first round in Washington. She will be making her debut in the WTA 500 tournament.

Eala will be aiming to win the first title of her career. But she has already played a tour-level final. Last year at the Eastbourne International, Eala lost the final to Maya Joint. In this year’s Wimbledon, en route to her defeat to Jasmine Paolini in the fourth round, Eala knocked out Iga Swiatek in the third round.

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