When Venus Williams made her grand slam debut at the 1997 French Open three members of the world’s top 10 on the WTA Tour weren’t even born.
The seven-time grand slam champion has impressively remained a headline act in the sport for more than 20 years along with her sister Serena. Her resume includes 49 WTA titles and 11 weeks as world No.1 during 2002. At the Olympics, she is the only tennis player in the Open Era – male or female – to have won five medals with four of them being gold.
Despite her impressive career the veteran American player still has no intention of hanging up her racket yet as she turns 40 on Tuesday. Williams is one of only two women aged over 40 to have an official WTA ranking. The other is Hungarian world No.424 Greta Arn who is 41. Some guessed that Williams might have retired after the Olympics this year if it wasn’t for COVID-19 bringing the Tour to a standstill. However, this isn’t the case.
“I don’t think I was going to retire there at all,” she told Tennis Majors last week. “But we basically missed a year so we’ll see what happens.’
“(I will) Probably not play as long as I’ve already played. Let’s put it that way. I will not be like 80 on the court unless there’s like a circuit for me. I can play padel or something.’
“Outside of this, I don’t know. We’ll see how I feel. When you’re over it you’re over it.”
The determination of Williams to keep playing for the foreseeable future comes after what has been a lacklustre time on the Tour. In her seven most recent tournaments she has failed to win back-to-back matches and has lost in the first round of all three tournaments played this year. Resulting in her dropping to 67th in the world. The last time Williams was ranked outside the top 100 was back in March 2011.
It could be very easy for the former world No.1 to retire given her commitments outside of sport. She also runs two successful businesses called V Starr Interiors and athletic apparel line EleVen. However, her desire to win and achieve more is still there.
“If you’ve achieved all your dreams then either you want nothing else or you’re dead,” she said. “It’s never enough.”
As to what her dream goal would be before retiring, Williams mentioned getting her maiden French Open trophy. She has played at Roland Garros 22 times during her career, but has only reached the final once. Settling for runner-up to Serena back in 2002. Overall, Williams has played in a record 85 grand slam main draws.
“I’d love to win the French Open,” she says. “I’ve come close. And the Australian, I’ve come close too, just unlucky there it seems?”
Whenever Williams does decide that enough is enough, her legacy will continue with the next generation of American player’s. Many of which were inspired by her to start playing the sport, including Madison Keys.
“I think Venus has helped the sport, especially the women’s side, with equal prize money,” Keys told reporters during the 2015 Australian Open where she lost to Williams in the semifinal. “She was a huge part of that. Just watching her is inspirational. She’s had her health battles. She loves tennis. She’s still out here, and she’s doing it remarkably well. I think that’s inspirational. However long I play, I hope I can be someone similar to that.”
Williams has won $41,805,656 in prize money during her career, which is the second highest in the history of the WTA Tour. Only Serena and four players on the men’s Tour have earned more than her.
