Serena Williams and Venus Williams recently cleaned up some water puddles on a
tennis court before their practice session.
The Williams sisters together were a formidable force in the sport until
Serena decided to retire. She and Venus achieved great success, winning a
total of 22 doubles titles, including an impressive 14 Grand Slam doubles
titles.
The sisters also earned three Olympic gold medals together, triumphing in
the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and the 2012 London
Olympics.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion bid farewell to the sport in 2022. Since
then, Venus has refrained from participating in any doubles matches. When
asked about the potential of returning to the doubles court, she decisively
stated her disinterest, citing her sister Serena's retirement from the
category as the primary reason.
"When Serena retired I retired from doubles as well. When you have Serena
Williams as a partner you have seen the glory at the mountaintop, you
can't go any higher! Sorry I don't have better news," Venus wrote.
Recently, Serena Williams took to social media to share a photo of herself
and the seven-time Grand Slam champion using foam rollers to soak up water
puddles on a tennis court that had formed after a rainfall. However, all
their efforts were quickly undone by a downpour just minutes later.
Venus Williams reveals why she did not play after US Open 2023: "It's very difficult to play tennis or any sport when you have the swelling cycle"
Venus Williams participated in only eight tournaments this year and competed
in just two out of the four Grand Slam events - the Wimbledon Championships
and the US Open.
Venus was granted a wild card entry to Wimbledon this year. However, she
encountered a disappointing first-round defeat at the hands of Elina
Svitolina. The American also sustained an injury during the third game of
the match when she unexpectedly slipped and tumbled to the ground with
tremendous impact.
The former World No. 1 recently took to her YouTube channel to talk about
her ongoing struggles with the injury she sustained at Wimbledon - the
injury which also significantly impacted her performance at the US Open.
Venus Williams admitted that due to her incomplete recovery and inability to
perform her best, she decided to take a break and conclude her season
following the New York Slam.
"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," Venus Williams said (at 1:00).
"I didn't want to miss 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,"
she added.
Venus also revealed that her knee is swelling up, making it difficult for
her to play tennis.
"Just like pain from sitting around, like my knee hurts, my knee is
swelling every day. It's very difficult to play tennis or any sport when
you have like the swelling cycle, when your body won't stop swelling," she
said.