In Wimbledon, Venus Williams loses after returning from a fall
As Venus Williams entered Centre Court for her 24th Wimbledon appearance at age 43, greeted by a standing ovation, she stretched a green exercise band overhead while walking to her sideline seat.
During her first-round match against Elina Svitolina, Williams played like a throwback version of herself. Those big serves. Those crisp strokes. She was a point from taking the lead.
After moving forward to attempt a volley, Williams slipped on the green grass. Her right foot gave way. She collapsed to the ground. She shrieked and clutched at her right knee, which was already covered in a beige sleeve. Despite getting the knee taped during a medical timeout after the first set, Williams did not manage to beat Wimbledon semifinalist Svitolina 6-4, 6-3 despite twice being treated by a trainer.
I'm not sure what I've done. I'll have to look into it tomorrow. It's late today. But it was painful," Williams told me. "Grass is inherently slippery; at some point you're going to fall. I just had bad luck. The match started perfectly, and I was literally killing it until the grass killed me."
A former No. 1, Williams is now ranked outside the top 500 after a series of injuries that limited her to 22 matches since the start of 2021. She was the oldest player in this year's field and the fourth oldest to compete in the main draw.
"Right now, I'm kind of in shock. I can't believe this happened. It's bizarre. I'm still processing it at the moment," Williams said at her news conference after the match ended. I have suffered so many injuries that I cannot handle this one. ... This isn't what I want for myself."
"Right now, I'm kind of in shock. I can't believe this happened. It's bizarre. I'm still processing it at the moment," Williams said at her news conference after the match ended. I have suffered so many injuries that I cannot handle this one. ... This isn't what I want for myself."
Williams has achieved great success in her career, winning the All England Club titles in 2001, 2005, 2007 and 2008. Furthermore, two US Open trophies were collected in singles and an additional fourteen were won with her younger sister Serena during women's doubles. She was a four-time runner-up at Wimbledon, most recently in 2017 when she reached two finals and a semifinal at major tournaments. Since then however, Williams has encountered difficulty at Grand Slam events losing in the first round of 10 of her latest 15 appearances having announced her diagnosis with Sjögren's syndrome in 2011 - an auto-immune disease which can cause joint pain and fatigue.
Monday saw some classic passages, with Williams' service reaching a peak of 117 mph. Her forehand slices and two-handed backhands generated clean winners or caused Svitolina to make mistakes. Nevertheless, the American made 33 unforced errors, 18 more than her opponent. There were also eight double faults included in the tally. After only 12 minutes of play though, Williams suddenly tumbled to the ground. The chair umpire and Svitolina both rushed over to check on her, the latter carrying a white towel that was placed under her head.
Williams said later, "I'm a competitor, and that's what I do for a living. I did what I could today." "I've played through a lot of matches and won a lot of matches injured." "It just never came to me today." Nevertheless, the crowd certainly appreciated the persistence and effort Williams displayed on Monday, rising to salute her and shower her with applause as she left the court with a quick wave and a slight hitch in her step.
Williams said later, "I'm a competitor, and that's what I do for a living. I did what I could today." "I've played through a lot of matches and won a lot of matches injured." "It just never came to me today." Nevertheless, the crowd certainly appreciated the persistence and effort Williams displayed on Monday, rising to salute her and shower her with applause as she left the court with a quick wave and a slight hitch in her step.
Svitolina finished with more aces than Williams, 6-2, and nearly twice as many winners, 28-16. In grass, you have to bend your legs to get to all these shots," said Svitolina, who was once ranked No. 3, but is now No. 76 after the time off and, like Williams, received a wild card invitation from the All England Club. "Venus is very fast, so I had to work very hard to beat her."
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