“I spent the whole summer pretty injured with my knee, like really struggling with it” – Venus Williams

The 43-year-old American has not played since the US Open and is slated to return to the tour in March

Venus Williams at 2023 Wimbledon Image Credit: Fotoarena / Panoramic

December 19, 2023

Seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Venus Williams has opened up about her injury-marred second half of the 2023 season, which she ended after a disappointing first round loss at the US Open in August.

After playing in Auckland in the first week of the season, the 43-year-old American returned to the tour only during the grass season, playing the two grass court tune-ups before making her 24th appearance at Wimbledon. It was there at the grass court Grand Slam that Williams slipped and injured her knee during her first-round loss to Elina Svitolina, the effects of which lingered on for the next few months.

“I went to Wimbledon and sadly slipped in the third game of the match and really got injured. I spent the whole summer pretty injured with my knee, like really struggling with it,” Williams said on her YouTube channel. “I didn’t want to miss the US Open, made it there, but definitely not my best performance after so much time off after Wimbledon. So, I decided not to play anymore the rest of the year and just give my knee a chance to heal.”

What was super interesting is once I just sat down, I felt better.
Venus Williams

Williams gave a detailed account of the issues she had with her knee which caused her to stop training but added that after a few weeks of complete rest, she felt a whole lot better.

“With the swelling I was having, I lost range of motion. You lose strength when your knee is swelling, also your muscles don’t activate anymore. So, your muscles are not activating, you can’t train, so you lose muscles. It’s a whole cycle. This is what I was going through in the summer. I couldn’t get my swelling down, I lost range of motion, the nature of my injury was you know, all this stuff. But anyway, I was dealing with all that, so, I decided not to play any more,” she continued.

“What was super interesting is once I just sat down, I felt better, I would say. After the US Open, I would say maybe like four weeks later I got up, I remember it was a Sunday and I got up and I was like ‘Oh my God! I’m not in pain.”

Williams will not travel to Australia for the start of the new season and has planned to return in March in time for the Indian Wells-Miami swing in the United States.