AN emotional Venus Williams remained non-committal about her tennis future following a brave first-round defeat at the US Open.
The 45-year-old American former world number one delighted a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium with a gutsy 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 loss to Czech 11th seed Karolina Muchova.
Williams only returned to competitive tennis in July following a 16-month absence from the sport and was granted a wild card into the main draw at Flushing Meadows.
She performed admirably against her 29-year-old opponent, who was not even born when Williams turned professional in 1994, justifying the decision to award her a main draw place.
Williams stated she does not expect to play again this year due to travel reluctance but remained coy about potentially seeking Australian Open entry next season.
“That’s kind of far too,“ Williams said when asked about the Australian Open.
“My goal is to do what I want to do. I’m so grateful for all the folks who gave me a wild card. They could have said, ‘Hey, listen, you’ve been gone too long, you haven’t won a lot of matches in the last few years.’ I wasn’t lucky with my health and with injuries.”
“But there were a lot of people who believed in me in these tournaments. I’m very grateful to have had that chance and that opportunity to make good on it and have a chance to really strike the ball.”
“I play an exciting brand of tennis. It’s a lot of fun to go literally hog wild out there and hit as hard as I can. I’m happiest when I can just hit hard.”
The seven-time major singles champion contrasted Monday’s performance with her straight-sets defeat to Muchova at the 2020 US Open.
“When I think about the match I played against her in 2020, I was so uncomfortable. I wasn’t well. I was in so much pain. Today it’s night and day how much better I felt, so I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to play in feeling better, and at that rate, have a real chance.”
Reflecting on her fitness, Williams became emotional while discussing finally playing without pain.
“What did I prove to myself? I think for me getting back on the court was about giving myself a chance to play more healthy.”
“When you play unhealthy, it’s in your mind. It’s not just how you feel. You get stuck in your mind too. It was nice to be freer.” – AFP