Venus Wiliams celebrates a point
Venus Williams has shut down retirement rumours by stating that she is “not done” with her tennis career quite yet.
A seven-time Grand Slam singles champion and former world No 1, there is little that Williams has not been able to achieve across a three-decades-long professional career.
However, the 44-year-old has been plagued by injuries in recent years and suffered a significant setback when she injured her knee at Wimbledon last year.
Williams lost in the opening round of the US Open last summer and has played just twice in 2024.
The American was beaten in three sets by qualifier Nao Hibino in Indian Wells before a straight-sets loss to Diana Shnaider in Miami.
There have been no signs of her playing since then and rumours had grown in recent weeks that she had privately called time on her legendary career.
However, in an interview with Irish News, she stated that she had not retired and was “picking and choosing” her events – while still following the sport closely.
“I’m not done with the racket yet,” she said
“At this point, it’s about picking and choosing places I want to be. Last year I really wanted to play in Miami – home – because I hadn’t played there in like five years.
“It’s nice to be in a place where I can pick and choose, but my game is always at a high level. Even if I’m not on tour, I always keep my game quite high.
“I always watch the tournaments as much as I can – it’s hard to sit in front of the TV, and a lot of times by the time I have time at like 11pm it’s a replay, but it’s still fun to watch all the competition.”
Williams is currently advertising her new book Strive: 8 Steps to Train for Success.
The book is motivated by her desire to boost happiness and wellness, which comes from her own journey since being diagnosed with Sjögren’s syndrome in 2011.
She added: “Finding out I had an incurable autoimmune disorder – one that flares up unexpectedly, causing pain, numbness, and fatigue – was one of the hardest things to accept, especially when my career expects me to be at my physical best.
“It definitely made me look at things differently. Even when it was hard to look at things differently, just to focus on what I could accomplish instead of what I couldn’t.
“It definitely made me grateful for what health I had.”
