‘For now, I’ll not be playing tennis’
Venus Williams during a changeover Credit: Alamy
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…
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