Struggling with injuries throughout 2023, Venus Williams, the tennis legend at the age of 43, is gearing up for another comeback during the 2024 North American hard court swing.
Venus Williams has officially declared her intention to make another tennis comeback at the age of 43. Hindered by injuries, the seven-time major winner played only 10 matches in 2023, entering the twilight phase of her illustrious career. Yet, her passion for the game remains strong, leading her to announce her return for the 2024 season. While missing the January 2024 Australian Open, Venus has set her sights on the US events of Indian Wells and the Miami Open in March as her comeback tournaments.
“I am targeting March; that’s when the tournaments go back to the States, so my goal is to be up and running when tournaments come back to the US,” she shared. “I tried my best to recover for the US Open. I did not reach my form, so now I am just resting until I get back.”
Venus, the former World No. 1, provided a video update on her tumultuous year via her YouTube channel. After a six-month hiatus, she returned to action on the grass courts at the Libema Open in June, winning a classic match against Camila Giorgi at the Birmingham Open before a loss to Jelena Ostapenko.
Struggling with injuries throughout the season, the seven-time Grand Slam champion faced an early exit at Wimbledon, succumbing to Elina Svitolina in the first round. She later appeared to slip and injure her knee during the match. Despite her efforts to recover and compete at the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open a month later, Venus decided to conclude her season after a tough defeat to qualifier Greet Minnen in the first round of the US Open.
Reflecting on her challenging summer, Williams mentioned, “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. 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.”