A sense of uncertainty has been cast over Venus Williams after she admitted to ongoing problems concerning an elbow injury that has hindered her since the start of the season.
The 36-year-old appeared to be in little discomfort during her comprehensive second round win over Switzerland’s Stefanie Voegele at the Australian Open. Her latest victory saw the American hit 24 winners, which was cancelled out by 24 unforced errors, and four aces.
“Today was a good day, a little less hot first thing in the morning.” Said Williams. “It was good to get it in and have a win early (in the day).”
Singles will be Williams’ primary focus after she withdrew from the doubles draw on Wednesday. The 13th seed was set to play alongside her sister Serena in a bid to lift the Australian Open title for the first time since 2010. Her plans for the double participation has now been prevented due to an ongoing issue with her elbow.
“I’m managing it. I was really disappointed not to be able to play in New Zealand.” She said about the issue. “I was hoping to have the capacity to play both events here, but at this point I just need to be careful and just try to maintain myself.”
At her first tournament of the year, the ASB Classic, the former world No.1 withdrew due to an arm injury (which has since been corrected to an elbow problem). Reluctanct in providing details about the injury, Williams avoided answering a question about the severity of it. The only insight provided was about her routine trips to the physios in Melbourne.
“I go and see the physios, and they have been doing a great job.” The 36-year-old explained.
Playing in her 18th Australian Open main draw since 1998, Williams will face China’s Duan Yingying. 27-year-old Yingying is currently at a ranking high of 87th in the world and will play in the third round of a major for the first time in her career.
“I don’t know anything about her. I have never seen her play.” Williams said of Yingying. “Zero, like zero. So I’m going to have to see how it goes. Maybe get a scouting report in the warm-up when we hit the five minutes and kind of see how it feels.”
This week Williams is bidding to reach the last 16 in Melbourne for the tenth time in her career.
