American tennis player Venus Williams, who will play her 24th Wimbledon tournament on Monday, said on Saturday that she was not close to stopping her career, saying she was probably the only one capable of playing until she was 50. The 43-year-old eldest of the Williams sisters, who has won seven Grand Slam titles in her career, ruled out the possibility of an upcoming retirement from sport in front of the press, her younger sister Serena having announced hers in September 2022 .
The former world number 1, who is currently ranked 554th, explained that it was not impossible for her to play until she was 50. “No one has ever done this before, so if anyone can do it, it would be me,” said Venus Williams, who received an invitation to the Wimbledon tournament, which she won five times.
“The Grand Slams are very important to me,” added Venus Williams, who made her return to competition in June in s’Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands, after five months of absence due to a hamstring injury. leggings. “I’m not a model,” said the player again, who does not see herself as a standard bearer for those in her forties. “My motivation is to continue as I have always done”.
At last week’s Birmingham tournament, she beat Italy’s Camila Giorgi in the first round, her first win against a top-50 player since 2019. On Monday, she will play for the first time since 2017 on center court at Wimbledon, where she will face another guest, the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina (75th).
