Venus Williams, 43, walked out to so much applause from the Wimbledon crowd when she took the court on July 3. However, after three days in, an entirely different sound filled the arena as fans gasped in fear as Venus slipped and injured her already-wrapped right knee. In video from the match, you can see as Venus advanced toward the net during her face-off with Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, she slipped on the grass and fell hard on the court.
Venus Williams went down on the court after slipping near the net.
She returned to play after taking an injury timeout. pic.twitter.com/h3zXL7Evc1
— ESPN (@espn) July 3, 2023
Her cry as she fell was guttural, and the crowd followed suit, feeling terribly worried for her. Soon, she was met on the court by a doctor, as well as her opponent Elina, who rushed to bring her a towel and some encouragement. Moments later, the stadium filled with cheers again as Venus got back on her feet. The fighter she is, the older sister of Serena Williams returned to the court after tending to her injury for a brief timeout. Sadly, she ended up losing in the first round, following her leg injury.
Venus’ medical timeout was the second she took against Elina. During their first match, Venus fell and was forced to take a break as her medical team evaluated her already-wrapped knee.
Venus endured a difficult journey back to Wimbledon. She suffered a hamstring injury while competing against Zhu Lin at the ASB Classic in New Zealand in January, taking her out of the game for five months. “In the third set, I managed to hurt my leg. I’m running, I’m running, I’m running and then I feel this pop, and I’m like, ‘Oh no’,” the tennis star recalled on her YouTube channel in February. “I didn’t have enough time to think whether or not it was a good thing or bad thing but maybe I thought it was bad, and I guess my coach and physio were telling me, ‘Call the trainer’.” She did not call the trainer.
“I’ve hurt my hamstring enough to know that there’s nothing to be done once you hurt it, like, either you keep playing or don’t, but there’s nothing you can do,” she explained of the scenario.” Venus ended up withdrawing from the Australian Open earlier this year due to her injury. The withdrawal followed a 2022 season that saw Venus only compete in four events.
This year’s Wimbledon tournament marked her 24th time at the prestigious event. “It’s so much fun,” Venus answered when asked by reporters how she feels about competing, per The Associated Press. “I haven’t played a lot of matches in the last few years, and not by choice. I wanted to be here and I couldn’t,” she later added.
Venus holds seven Grand Slam titles and four Olympic medals, making her one of the most accomplished tennis players in history, alongside her younger sister.