‘Love is the key, right?’ Evergreen Venus Williams plays on and on at 45
“Still haven’t seen the Rolling Stones,” says Venus Williams, smiling, as she reminisced about her unforgettable professional tennis debut at the age of 14 in Oakland, California, an occasion that justified years of hype surrounding her stratospheric potential.Her first ever professional tennis match took place next door to a Rolling Stones concert.Now, 31 years later, at 45 years old, Williams is still here.Three weeks after returning to professional tennis for the first time in 16 months with a straight sets singles victory over the then world No 35 Peyton Stearns at the Citi Open in Washington, which marked her as the second-oldest woman in history to win a WTA Tour-level singles match and also silenced criticisms about her enduring presence on the tour, Williams now takes her comeback to the Cincinnati Open.Once one of the most precocious youngsters of her time, a US Open finalist by the age of 17, Williams continues to compete.
She is one of the greatest tennis players of all time in her own right, a seven-time singles grand slam champion, Olympic gold medallist and former No 1 in singles.Despite all she has achieved, her enduring love for her sport means she continues to step on the practice court every day with the aim of being the best player she can be.“Love is the key, right?” says Williams.“If you don’t love it, then get out of it.If you can, if you have that luxury, not everyone has that luxury.
For me, I think a lot of the motivation for me is just to come back and try to play in the best health that I can.“I never stopped hitting the ball, even when I was away, not as intensely as you would if you were playing tournaments, but I was still going out there.And I think that at the end of the day, you have to live your life on your own terms.Your terms should be yours.Doesn’t matter what anyone else says or what anyone else thinks, if you get to live life on your own terms of life, [do] that.
And I firmly believe in that.”This comeback, however, is not merely about striking a tennis ball.Last month, Williams revealed she has suffered with fibroids for years, non-cancerous tumours that develop in and around the uterus, which left her with excruciating symptoms including pelvic pain and heavy bleeding.In addition to the significant impact fibroids has had on Williams’ everyday life, it also affected her tennis career.She says she had been misdiagnosed for years.
Last week, in the aftermath of her returning in Washington, Williams posted a series of videos from exactly a year ago when she was undergoing an open myomectomy surgery to remove the fibroids and a large focal adenomyoma in her uterus, tissue from the lining of the uterus that had grown in her uterine wall.“I was told I was inoperable,” she wrote.“I was told I could bleed to death on the table.I was told to get a surrogate and forget the hope to carry my own children.I was misdiagnosed.
I went untreated for years and years and years.”As she has returned to the court, Williams has used the publicity around her return to shine a light on women’s medical issues.“I just remember after my surgery, I was feeling so much gratitude but I was able to have the resources to finally get through that, and I remember that was the biggest feeling that I had.And at that point, I was nowhere near playing professional tennis, but now a year later, I’m in a completely different space, and I have a clean bill of health, thank God, and I’m ready to play and compete.”The next competitive challenge for Williams will be the 22-year-old world No 51 Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro.
On the day Bouzas Maneiro was born, 24 September 2002, Williams had already won four grand slam singles titles, reached No 1 and contested the previous three consecutive major finals against her younger sister, Serena.The elder Williams sibling said the US swing was the focus for her return and she is unlikely to compete after the US Open.The rest is unknown.“I’m very much in the moment,” she said.“I don’t think you should ever rule me out.
That’s all I can say.”
British bobsleigh’s Brad Hall: ‘Winning medals without sacrifice doesn’t mean anything’
A loss of funding in 2019 led to the GB athlete raising money privately and a period of historic successFor most athletes, a loss of all funding would signal the end. But for Brad Hall, Team GB’s bobsleigh captain, it was the beginning of a remarkable comeback story. The 34-year-old speaks about the financial shakedown of British bobsleigh with remarkable calm, as if it was a hurdle most professionals faced.“I’ll have to take you back in time a little bit,” he says, reflecting on a period that could have ended his career. “We got a year of transitional funding until the 2019 world championships where we were told if we got top three we’re able to maintain our funding
Lukhan Salakaia-Loto earns Wallabies call-up for South Africa Tests
Powerful lock Lukhan Salakaia-Loto has earned a return to the Wallabies’ squad for the two Tests in South Africa to kick off this year’s Rugby Championship, but injuries in the halves have forced coach Joe Schmidt to call on Nic White a week after his supposed retirement from international rugby.The Wallabies showed progress in the series against the British & Irish Lions and won the third Test to prevent a whitewash, but they cannot afford to rest heading into the clashes with the top-ranked Springboks, who beat the All Blacks in the 2023 World Cup final.The 35-player squad is similar to the one selected for the Lions series and includes Rob Valetini, the John Eales Medal winner who missed the third Test due to a calf injury, as well as veteran No 10 James O’Connor. But there are also some new faces, including three uncapped players.Salakaia-Loto, who has been out of the Australian squad so far this year, wins a place after starring for the First Nations & Pasifika XV against the Lions three weeks ago
‘Love is the key, right?’ Evergreen Venus Williams plays on and on at 45
“Still haven’t seen the Rolling Stones,” says Venus Williams, smiling, as she reminisced about her unforgettable professional tennis debut at the age of 14 in Oakland, California, an occasion that justified years of hype surrounding her stratospheric potential. Her first ever professional tennis match took place next door to a Rolling Stones concert. Now, 31 years later, at 45 years old, Williams is still here.Three weeks after returning to professional tennis for the first time in 16 months with a straight sets singles victory over the then world No 35 Peyton Stearns at the Citi Open in Washington, which marked her as the second-oldest woman in history to win a WTA Tour-level singles match and also silenced criticisms about her enduring presence on the tour, Williams now takes her comeback to the Cincinnati Open.Once one of the most precocious youngsters of her time, a US Open finalist by the age of 17, Williams continues to compete
England’s Chris Woakes: ‘It’s not the way you want to be front-page news’
The pace bowler says of risking his career by going out to bat against India after dislocating his shoulder: ‘You just know you’re part of something bigger’“I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I didn’t try,” says Chris Woakes, just 48 hours after he walked out to a standing ovation at the Oval, left arm in a sling, bat in hand, ready to push through the agony of a dislocated shoulder to get England the win.It may have been thwarted, with India victorious by a slim six runs to bring one of the most thrilling series in recent times to an end in a 2-2 draw. But the selfless act of crossing the boundary with a potentially career‑threatening injury meant Woakes entered cricketing folklore – echoing Colin Cowdrey in 1963, Paul Terry and Malcolm Marshall in 1984, and Rishabh Pant at Old Trafford just a week earlier.“I don’t know what it is,” Woakes says, back home in Birmingham and awaiting further scans on the injury. “You just know you’re part of something bigger
Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa says sitting on Trump’s sports council will be ‘an honor’
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British athletes could be allowed to compete in future Islamic Solidarity Games
Organisers of the Islamic Solidarity Games, a quadrennial event with 57 nations competing in multiple sports, have left the door open for British athletes to take part in future, saying such a prospect would be “interesting to see”.The latest edition of the Games is to take place in Riyadh in November and – under the Saudi sports minister as president of the governing body, the Islamic Solidarity Sports Association – there is a desire to grow its international audience, which could involve inviting new countries to take part.“It would be great quality sports. It would be interesting to see,” said Nasser Majali, secretary general of the ISSA, who was speaking in London on Wednesday. “It depends on the appetite, it depends on what we are able to do based on sustainability
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