Venus Williams bows out in first round of women’s singles at US Open
Venus Williams withdrew from the US Open with a knee injury during her match against Samantha Stosur, but she may have kept her knee from hurting by playing another day of tennis on Saturday on the United States’ second-day lineup.
Williams made a pair of long points on the baseline as Stosur broke to serve in the first set. But she then collapsed while holding her knee after losing her footing, as she had done in her previous match against Stosur at the Cincinnati Open this year. Williams missed the next six points and finished the set as a 4-2, 2-6, 0-6 match, and said she would probably go through with the injury.
A USTA official said that Williams was in good spirits, but not looking great in a long skirt and tights.
“Venus has been fantastic. I love her. She’s a great person. A great role model,” the official said.
Williams, 28, has been struggling with knees and tendinitis since she began playing at the age of 12, and she has never won a major in her career. She had just started a new diet two days before her US Open match.
She is one of the best-known names in tennis as the 14-time Grand Slam tournament, but this year she was considered the most vulnerable she would face. She has been plagued by knee injuries since she won her first major in 2002. But she has also had an injury to her toe that required surgery last year, and she has been plagued with back pain that has prevented her from being able to play on grass and clay surface this season.
This year has been particularly difficult for Williams, who won her last two Grand Slam tournaments (French Open, Wimbledon) but lost her second straight US Open.
Williams did not play last week in Beijing when she reached the final of the China Open. She said she was concerned about her back, and she missed some practice sessions when she was there. She did not play the first match in Shenzhen on Friday night because her left knee had become sore from the night before, she said, and she was unsure whether it would recover in time to play the second match.
Williams has finished in the top five