“There’s nothing to be done,” Venus Williams opens up on her injury that led to her withdrawal from the 2023 Australian Open
Venus Williams gave insight into her decision for quitting the ASB Classic tournament and withdrawing her name from the Australian Open 2023.
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Venus Williams (Image Credit: MARCA)
Venus Williams is willing to show the world that even at the age of 42, she has got enough in her to beat the best women tennis players on the tennis circuit. She also wants to increase her Grand Slam singles tally and add more laurels to her already glittering career before she decides to hang up her boots. However, her luck is not helping her.
The seven-time Grand Slam champion could play only four singles matches in the whole WTA season of 2022. During this remarkable year, many new tennis stars emerged on the tennis scene, while older generation players retired.The former world No. 1 also dropped out of the WTA 1000 rankings in singles.
This year, she wanted to show the world her best. She also started the season 2023 well. She got a wildcard for the 2023 Australian Open. To prepare well for the first Grand Slam of the season, she headed to Auckland, New Zealand, to participate in the ASB Classic tournament. She won her first match here against compatriot Katie Volynets comfortably.
However, during the second-round match of the competition against Lin Zhu of China, she pulled her hamstring. Soon, she had to forfeit the match. Soon, she dropped the news of her withdrawal from the 2023 Australian Open. In the recent interview, she talked at length about why she chose to abandon the match in Auckland.
“In the third set, I managed to hurt my leg. I’m running, I’m running, I’m running and then I feel this pop, and I’m like ‘Oh no’. I didn’t have enough time to think whether or not it was a good thing or bad thing but maybe I thought it was bad, and I guess my coach and physio were telling me, ‘Call the trainer’.But I’ve hurt my hamstring enough to know that there’s nothing to be done once you hurt it, like, either you keep playing or don’t, but there’s nothing you can do,” she said.
She had the option to call her trainer mid-match; however, she decided not to. She also gave the reasons for taking this decision in such a hurry.
“I knew that it was going to be a bad injury. I did not call the trainer. I think I just panicked and threw up on myself the rest of the match, like, I just had shots that I could hit winners. I unfortunately walked off the court not a winner of that match and you know, about a seven or eight-hour encounter which “really were the craziest circumstances I played in in my long, long, long, long career,” she continued.
Is Venus Williams going to retire?
The seven-time Grand Slam winner has achieved a lot in her long career. She with her younger sister Serena Williams definitely the sport for many people and changed the outlook of tennis fans about black people in the sport. However, now she is not able to compete as well as she may want to the rest of the competition.
The year 2022 also saw some very important names such as Ash Barty, Roger Federer and Serena Williams announcing their retirement. Speculations were ripe that Venus Williams may also take the call soon. However, till now, she has given no such indications.
“I think my next step is to get to to a place where I feel confident in my body again I definitely need to build confidence in it again and I’ll get there, god willing. I’ll take you guys on this journey with me, back to health, back to tennis hopefully. Hopefully sooner than later, I don’t know exactly when but I’ll let you know,” she added further.
She is willing to return to the sport she loves so much. She has also got lots of inspiration around on the tennis circuit. Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal after multiple injuries and in their mid-30s are winning Grand Slam titles. Veterans such as Stan Wawrinka, Andy Murray and Rohan Bopanna are still going strong. However, the question still is will she be able to make it this time.
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Abhar Indorkar
(451 Articles Published)