MASON, Ohio — The semifinals of the Canadian Open are taking place on Wednesday, however when a Williams sister is on the grounds of any tennis occasion on this planet with a racket in her hand, that tends to suck up loads of the oxygen within the sport.
That was the case on the Lindner Household Tennis Middle, as Venus Williams prepares for the subsequent stage of her tennis comeback from surgical procedure and persistent sickness.
Williams, 45, gained matches in singles and doubles as a wild card on the Citi Open in Washington, D.C. final month. She’s taking part in the Cincinnati Open on one other wild card, and has accepted a 3rd to enter the brand new U.S. Open blended doubles occasion, the place she is going to accomplice with Reilly Opelka.
In a roundtable with reporters, the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion mentioned that may doubtless be it for her for the 2025 season, barring a wild card into the U.S. Open singles draw, which begins August 24.
As for 2026? “I don’t suppose you need to ever rule me out,” she mentioned.
Williams, who final month detailed how she managed uterine fibroids for many of her tennis profession, once more mentioned the situation in explaining her absence from the game. A part of her 18-month layoff concerned present process surgical procedure to take away the noncancerous growths on her uterus, which might trigger heavy menstrual bleeding and discomfort. She mentioned she may barely arise straight as she walked.
“I used to be considering of nearly recovering from my well being, however I believe tennis is all the time at the back of my head, however I felt like I had time, as unusual as that sounds,” Williams mentioned.
“I felt like I had time simply to get properly and once I was on the court docket, I used to be all the time engaged on my sport.”
“I didn’t simply go and and let all of it collapse. Even when it was only a half an hour, I simply tried to get one thing out of it. It’s no secret that you simply get nice legs and nice arms in tennis, so I figured I’ll as properly not less than hold my my determine if that’s the very least we do.”
Williams has clearly achieved greater than the least. In Washington, D.C., she knocked out Peyton Stearns, the rising American world No. 37 who’s about half her age, within the opening spherical. Magdalena Fręch, the No. 5 seed, took her out within the subsequent spherical.
“I believe lots of the motivation for me is simply to return again and attempt to play in, in the perfect well being that I can,” Williams added.
“I by no means stopped hitting the ball even once I was away, not as, you understand, intensely as you’ll for those who’re taking part in tournaments, however I used to be nonetheless going on the market.”
Williams will play once more in Ohio towards Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain, in her first-round Cincinnati Open match on Thursday.
(Picture: Robert Prange / Getty Photos)
