Venus Williams gives fitness update: ‘For now, I’ll not be playing tennis’

Tennis News
Venus Williams during a changeover

Venus Williams admits she was “super overwhelmed” after suffering a serious injury ahead of the Australian Open, adding that she is unlikely to return to action soon.

After playing only a handful of matches during the 2022 season, the seven-time Grand Slam winner is determined to play more events this year and she started off by accepting wildcards entries for the ASB Classic in Auckland and the season-opening Grand Slam at Melbourne Park.

The 42-year-old made a successful start to her campaign as she won her opener in New Zealand, but then battled to a three-set defeat to Zhu Lin in the next round. To add insult to injury, she sustained a hamstring injury during the final set.

She initially didn’t think much of it, but it turned out to be a lot more serious than she had hoped and eventually withdrew from the Australian Open.

“As the night progressed, and as I ate cookies – when I lose, my treat is sugar – and I’m sitting in bed and my leg hurts,” the tennis great said on her YouTube channel.

“It’s never a good sign when you’re in pain at rest. I really can’t walk that well, and I tell my physio, ‘Let’s get an MRI.’ I’m barely walking in this place, shuffling … walking, barely taking steps. I got my results later that day and, to no surprise, I had some tears in the hamstring attachment.”

The American has started walking again, but she is yet to start running again, let alone return to a practice court. As a result, her return date remains up in the air.

“To be honest, I was super overwhelmed by the injury,” the American veteran added. “I’ve been injured a long time now and I couldn’t believe I had to go back to rehab.

“After about a week, I started setting up my doctors appointments and started thinking about what was next for me and trying to really get a handle on how much time it’ll take for me to get back.

“This is the kind of injury that you have to let it rest a bit before you can start to do serious rehab … You have to walk before you run and I’m starting to walk pretty good. Hopefully, I’ll be running soon, but for now, I’ll not be playing tennis.

“I think the next step for me is to get to a place where I feel confident in my body again.

“I’ll get there, God-willing, and I’ll take you guys on this journey with me back to health, back to tennis, hopefully sooner rather than later.”


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