Venus Williams’ Wimbledon Exit Poses Questions About Her Future

By

Five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams was dumped out of Wimbledon this year by 15-year-old Cori Gauff leading to question marks about the former world number one’s future in the sport.

It is the first time Williams has failed to win her first round match at Wimbledon since 2012, while it brings up her second consecutive Grand Slam that she has been eliminated in her opening game as she also went out of the French Open at the opening stage after losing to Elina Svitolina at Roland-Garros back in May.

The older of the two Williams sisters is 39 years old now and has been playing as a professional since October 1994. She won her first Grand Slam singles title in 2000 when she landed Wimbledon, beating Lindsay Davenport in straight sets.

The majority of Williams’ success throughout her career has come at Wimbledon where she has felt so comfortable on the grass surface. She defended her crown in 2001 when getting the better of Justine Henin in three sets. Three more titles at SW19 followed in 2005, 2007 and 2008, the latter in which she beat her sister Serena in the final.

There was resurgence in Williams’ form in 2017 as she reached the final of two Grand Slam events. At the start of the year she made it through to the final of the Australian Open in Melbourne where she picked up wins over Garbine Muguruza and CoCo Vandeweghe. Unfortunately for the American, she went down in straight sets to her sister Serena.

Williams rolled back the years again at Wimbledon two years later to make her ninth final there. Victories against Naomi Osaka, Jelena Ostapenko and Johanna Konta gave her the opportunity to play for the title again. It was Muguruza who proved too strong for her though, winning 7-5 6-0.

At the start of the year, Williams was outside the top 50 in the world rankings for the first time since the early stages of her career. She is currently positioned 44 but the defeat to Gauff puts her under pressure again to stay in the top 50. The 39-year-old is a long way off world number one Ashleigh Barty who was the favourite in the women’s odds at Wimbledon this year before the tournament began.

Williams opted to part ways from her long-term coach David Witt at the end of 2018. She is currently working with her father, Richard Williams, and mother, Oracene Price. She will be now preparing to try and peak for the US Open in August, a tournament she has been successful twice at during her career.

If things don’t work out at Flushing Meadows though, Williams may have a tough decision to make at the end of the year on whether she continues on the singles tour in 2020. If she doesn’t return, she can look back on her career and safely say, she has been one of the best female players of the modern era to play the sport and one which has inspired so many, including her recent opponent, Gauff, to take up the sport.




Follow West London Sport on Twitter
Find us on Facebook