{"id":327176,"date":"2023-08-30T07:09:14","date_gmt":"2023-08-30T07:09:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=327176"},"modified":"2023-08-30T10:03:45","modified_gmt":"2023-08-30T10:03:45","slug":"strange-venus-career-move-grilled-after-record-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=327176","title":{"rendered":"'Strange' Venus career move grilled after record loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

Venus Williams<\/a> is facing questions over why she refuses to retire after suffering the worst loss of her US Open<\/a> career against a qualifier.<\/p>\n

Williams was mauled 6-1, 6-1 by Belgian world No.\ufeff97 Greet Minnen on Wednesday afternoon AEST in what was her 100th singles match at Flushing Meadows.<\/p>\n

The 43-year-old's performance against Minnen was a far cry from her world beating best which saw her claim the US Open title on two occasions over 20 years ago.<\/p>\n

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Australian tennis coach Wally Masur called Williams' insistence on continuing her singles career "strange" after yet another first-round exit.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffObviously Venus, she can do whatever she wants," he told Stan Sport's Grand Slam Daily<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"US<\/p>\n

"She can play, get as many wildcards, play as long as she wants, but when you've got such a great champion who plays well maybe past their best, it's a little bit hard to watch.<\/p>\n

"That was a long way from what we know Venus can (do). I just wonder what she's trying to achieve through it, whether she feels she can push through or whether this was a bit of a swansong.<\/p>\n

Watch US Open 2023 live and free on<\/strong><\/em> 9now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>. Alternatively, you can stream every match live, ad-free and on demand on<\/strong><\/em> Stan Sport<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, with centre court in 4K UHD<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

"As I say, the great champions, they've earned the right to bow out on their terms. For me, personally, I don't like seeing that."<\/p>\n

The crowd that seemed thrilled just to get a chance to see Williams play in person sent her toward the locker room with applause and yells after the loss. She gave a quick wave and a smile as she walked off, her red racquet bag slung over her left shoulder.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really great to hear the support. I know the fans have been here for me forever, so that\u2019s fantastic to still have that support even more than ever,\u201d said Williams, the oldest player in the field. \u201cSo it\u2019s a beautiful thing, and I love the Open.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NEW<\/p>\n

The first 21 times Williams entered the event, she went 21-0 in the first round. But this was her third consecutive opening-round loss since.<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old Minnen \u2014 who threw an uppercut and raised her arms after winning \u2014 was born in August 1997, the month before Williams reached the US Open final for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it was incredible to play a legend like her. I have huge respect," said Minnen, who entered the match with a 4-12 career record in grand slam matches. "To be there at 43 years old, it's amazing really.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams owns seven major championships, including five at Wimbledon. But she has lost in the first or second round in each of her past 12 slam appearances, including bowing out at the All England Club in July after taking a tumble in her opening match.<\/p>\n

Various injuries have limited her to just 10 matches this season \u2014 she is 3-7 \u2014 after just four in all of 2022. The latest problem is with a knee that forced her to withdraw from a tune-up tournament in Cleveland a little more than a week ago and left her unsure of whether she would be able to play in New York.<\/p>\n

\"Venus<\/p>\n

But there she was.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to really thank my doctors for helping me to get here. That in itself was a blessing,\u201d Williams said. \u201cI love playing here. I really gave it my all today. I really played some great shots, but she had some incredible answers to that. I wish I could have been more prepared for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The temperature was in the low 20s, but the humidity was 90 per cent, and Williams was not able to stay in the points with Minnen.<\/p>\n

It was quickly 3-0, with Williams \u2014 owner of what used to be one of the most intimidating serves in the game \u2014 broken twice right away. She lost each of her first half-dozen second-serve points.<\/p>\n

Minnen did what she could to keep Williams off-balance, particularly with drop shots, and it worked.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlready when I was five, six years old, she was on TV almost every slam. She was going so far in every tournament,\u201d said Minnen, who acknowledged feeling jittery before the match because of the opponent and the size of the largest grand slam stadium. \u201cShe's always been an amazing player and she still is now. I knew I had to bring my \u2018A\u2019 game to beat her. Even though she\u2019s a bit older, she keeps hitting the ball very good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NEW<\/p>\n

For more than two decades, Venus and Serena travelled the world together, swapping the No.1 ranking and the biggest trophies in their sport the way other siblings might share clothes or hobbies.<\/p>\n

Now that Serena, who recently had her second baby, is done playing on tour, there are inevitable questions about how much longer Venus will compete. She has grown used to those queries and grown adept at deflecting them and did so again on Wednesday, unwilling to say for sure whether she will play again this season, let alone beyond.<\/p>\n

Was it hard to be at Flushing Meadows without her sister?<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, I was very much aware that Serena wouldn\u2019t be playing the tournament, so I think I was OK. I\u2019ve had a chance to get used to that idea even before she retired,\u201d the elder Williams said. "I kind of knew that was coming."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Venus Williams is facing questions over why she refuses to retire after suffering the worst loss of her US Open career against a qualifier. Williams […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":327178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327176"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=327176"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327176\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":327183,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327176\/revisions\/327183"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/327178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=327176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=327176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=327176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}