Tennis icon Venus Williams missed the round of 16 in Cincinatti, but still impressed: At the age of 45, she delivered a strong match, but lost 4: 6 and 4: 6 against the Spaniard Jessica Bouzas.
Most recently, Williams had been stuck: “I need such games as proof of movement to collect bonus points for my health insurance.” She has already completed three of these games – after she had previously paused for 16 months. In Washington she had now become the oldest winner on the WTA tour since Martina Navratilova 21 years ago in Washington with a success in the 1st round about Peyton Stearns (6: 3, 6: 4). Then she lost 2: 6, 2: 6 in the round of 16 against the Polish Magdalena, which was placed in five. With a victory, Williams would have been the oldest quarterfinalist since 1990.
After the tournament in Washington, the former former world ranking list said. “It wasn’t the result that I wanted, but I couldn’t be happier.” Now in Cincinatti the seven -time Grand Slam-The winner at the Center Court, the audience including her sister Serena. She moved well, hit the baseline hard, but got too few Winner against the concentrated Spaniard. After all, she held 1:27 hours fully against it and had a smile on her face with congratulations on the net.
Williams wants to encourage other women
A winner is Venus Williams despite this defeat. Her long break was also caused by a complicated history of the disease that she had made public to give courage to other women. Before her uterine operation in 2024, she was told that she was “inoperable”.
Williams further: “I was told on the operating table. I was told that I was to look for a surrogate mother and give up hope for my own children. But I was diagnosed incorrectly. I was not treated for years. I suffered from severe anemia, paralyzing pain, severe bleeding and unusually frequent menstrual cycles for many years. The impaired my tennis and my career.”
Participation planned to the US Open
Now she also wants to set signal with her appearances: “There are no limits for excellence. It’s about what is going on in your head and how much you can invest”said Williams after their first round win in Washington. “If you work mentally, physically and emotionally, you can deliver results. It’s not about how often you like. It’s not about how often you are sick or injured. If you believe and work on it, there is an opportunity.”
Now she even thinks of participation in the US Open from August 24th. Williams in a variety of ways: “There can be a happy ending.”