For Venus Williams, it’s good to be “back in the arena”

Venus Williams won her first-round match in Cincinnati on Monday. She hopes she can stay healthy and build on it moving forward.

Ricky Dimon

August 15, 2023

Wins have been few and far between for Venus Williams in 2023, mainly because she has been plagued by bad luck in the form of injuries. The 43-year-old sustained a hamstring injury at the beginning of the season in Auckland and did not return until the grass-court swing. She then slipped in the first set of her opening-round match at Wimbledon against Elina Svitolina and suffered a knee injury.

All in all, Williams was just 2-5 for the year heading into this week’s Western & Southern Open.

Maybe, though, it just might turn around for her in Cincinnati. The American won a match at this tournament for the first time in four years and also defeated a top-20 opponent for the first time in four years when she upset world No 16 Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 7-5 on Monday afternoon.

Williams still finding joy in trying to improve

Even well into her 40s, Williams insists that she is still learning and improving. Heck, she could already see progress from her 6-2, 7-5 first-round loss in Montreal to Madison Keys last week.

“Going back,” Williams said, “you play the point, you’re, like, ‘Why did I choose that shot selection? I know better.’ It’s just learning — going back to matches. It’s, like, ‘Okay, next time I do that, I will do this, play better,’ — and technical things, too. The things, the match, serving well. You know, like, I had a great service game at 5-all (today). Last week I played in Montreal, got to 5-all; didn’t have the greatest service game. So this week was better. It’s step by step.

“Unfortunately, with huge amounts of time off, that’s just the price you have to pay. You have to learn again a lot of ways. Even though you know, when you’re in the arena, it’s a whole lot of other things.

“Each time I play better. So I’m just telling everyone, ‘Pray for me, pray for health, so I can keep stepping back into the arena.'”

I’m just hoping for some luck. I got some today
Venus Williams

Williams will get at least one more shot inside the Cincinnati arena against either Qinwen Zheng or Aliaksandra Sasnovich in round two. Just getting an opportunity is all the seven-time Grand Slam champion can ask for these days. After all, she has played only eight matches in 2023.

“I mean, it’s just the first step in the tournament, and I’m looking for matches at this point to try to find some rhythm,” she said following the win over Kudermetova, during which she came back from 4-1 down in the first set and 5-1 down in the second. “It’s not easy — definitely very challenging year with injuries. I’m just hoping for some luck. I got some today.

“Definitely satisfaction from today is just all the work that goes into just being here at all. Just, falling at Wimbledon was really, really shocking for me. I couldn’t believe that happened, especially after all my injuries these past years. I was, like, ‘How did this happen?’ That one was really tough for me.

“So I’m really happy to be here, actually. I did my best to be here as soon as possible in the best form possible I could bring in that amount of time. So that makes it satisfying, like, to be able to get a win with very little time to prepare.”