“Enjoying the competition!” Venus Williams REVEALS her goals for 2022 season

“Enjoying the competition!” Venus Williams REVEALS her goals for 2022 season

Venus Williams

Former World No.1 and seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams talks about her struggles with fitness and her goals for this season in her latest interview with ‘People’ magazine.

“I’ve had a lot of challenges in my life. I’ve gotten to the point where I [once] didn’t even trust a part of my body to perform, like to go up and downstairs, so how in the world do you come back to play tennis? No matter what your level is, you have these different moments where you need to boost your confidence. I’m very happy to bring that out into the open.”

Williams has been open about her struggles with her fitness since she was diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome in 2011. Sjogren’s syndrome is an auto-immune disease that causes fatigue, muscle aches, and joint pains. This meant the American couldn’t play tennis at the top level and had to rely on medication and diet to prolong her career in tennis.

Williams also revealed her tennis goals for the 2022 season and said being healthy is her main priority and said she wants to enjoy the competition. However, she didn’t specify when she will return to court.

“Health is number one. Number two would just be enjoying the competition. I think sometimes athletes, or people, don’t take the moment to just love what they’re doing. They’re just so busy trying to win at it. You forget the joy, the process. So that’s really going to be utmost for me. More than anything, just enjoy and love it,” she said.

Venus Williams is out of the top-400 rankings

Venus Williams
Venus Williams

Williams hasn’t played a match in nearly 6 months due to injuries. Her last match was at the WTA Chicago Fall Tennis Classic, in which she suffered a second-round exit.

Her absence at the recently concluded Australian Open meant it was the first time since 1997, that the Williams sisters didn’t feature at the Melbourne Major. As a result, Williams plummeted down the WTA rankings and currently sits at No. 464. This is the lowest she has ever ranked in her 28-year career.

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