Venus Williams sends out an apology message to fans after her last-minute withdrawal from Cleveland

Venus Williams announces her withdrawal from the Cleveland Open just hours away from her first round matchup against Mirra Andreeva.

Venus Williams sends out an apology message to fans after her last-minute withdrawal from Cleveland

Venus Williams looks dejected after losing a point during a match. (credits: Al Jazeera)

A legend of the game, Venus Williams was expected to play at the Cleveland Open, which starts this Monday with her first-round matchup against Mirra Andreeva. But just hours before her clash, she posted a video in which she spoke about withdrawing her name from the competition. 

Considering her age, her body is gradually losing its agility, and she has cited her knee as the basic reason for her withdrawal. Venus has more or less played every single tournament being held in her country and was very disappointed to have missed the opportunity to play at the Cleveland Open as well. 

YouTube video

She also called out the fans of the Midwest as the best ones and how much it hurts her to miss out on playing in front of them. At last, she promised the fans that she would play next year, giving the tennis world a major hint that she would continue to play the sport the following year as well. 

She said, “Hey everybody, it’s Venus here. I’m so sorry that I won’t be able to be at Cleveland. I’ve always wanted to play Tennis in the Land since it started, so I was really looking forward to it and I love the fans in the mid-west, you guys are awesome. I was looking forward to getting some matches to tune up for the US Open, but unfortunately, my knee is just not acting right, it’s just not supporting me being on-court right now and it’s such a bummer. I’m just bummed out about it.”

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How has Venus Williams looked far this year?

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Venus Williams bidding the fans goodbye after bowing out of the Citi Open. (credits: WTA)

Venus Williams, who is 43 at the moment, wasn’t expected to make it to the later stages of the major tournaments this year, and that has very often been the case. She was injured for the most part of the year, having taken a big break from the sport after her first appearance of the year at the ASB Classic. She got back into competitive tennis at the Hertogenbosch Open in June.

She made it out of the first round on just three occasions but still hasn’t made it to the third round in any of the tournaments yet. She won her first-round matches only at the ASB Classic, the Birmingham Classic, and the recently played Cincinnati Open. Having taken her time off from the Cleveland Open, it’s evident that Venus isn’t looking to risk herself with the US Open just around the corner and expects to make the most of the last Slam of the year. 

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