Venus Williams was given a hero’s welcome on her return to Wimbledon on Monday, but the 43-year-old could not turn back time and went out of the competition in the first round.
The five-times Wimbledon singles title winner, who has battled injuries in recent years and entered the tournament as a wild card, was defeated by the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina in two sets after falling and picking up an injury in the first set.
In an emotional post-match press conference said she was shocked by the outcome, as she had been on good form before and during the game.
“Yeah, it’s not fun right now,” she said. “I felt like I was in great form coming into this tournament, and great form in the match. It’s all very shocking at the moment.”
But reflecting on a career that has spanned almost three decades, Williams said she wouldn’t change a thing. “I think it happened all the way it was supposed to,” she said. “I won my first match. Once I started playing on tour, I went on to the top. I don’t think it could have been better.”
Svitolina was playing out her own story of resilience, returning to Wimbledon after the birth of her daughter, Skai in October. She is married to fellow tennis player Gaël Monfils.
Williams was greeted with cheers and adoration as she took to the court, with the crowds at Wimbledon delighted to welcome back the seven-time grand slam singles champion to SW19.
In a close first set that took over an hour, Williams slipped and fell in a service game that was broken by Svitolina, before going on to lose the set 4-6. In a medical break her right knee was heavily strapped and she appeared to struggle with the injury. Svitolina took the second set 6-3. The match ended after a Svitolina shot was initially called out – a decision that was overruled after a challenge by the Ukrainian.
A clearly unhappy Williams walked past the chair umpire shaking her head without offering a handshake, but left the court to a standing ovation.
Responding to a question about her decision not to shake the umpire’s hand at the end of the match, she said: “I completely disagreed with the call, it was just that type of game.”
Svitolina, one of five mothers playing at Wimbledon this year, paid tribute to Williams after the game. The 28-year-old, who only returned to the tour at the beginning of the clay season in April, called Williams “a legend” and said it was an “unbelievable feeling” to return to Wimbledon and play her on Centre Court.
The first round exit was a disappointment for Williams, who played her first match on tour when she was just 14 and her first Wimbledon when she was 17. She had just five matches in the last year after being plagued by injuries.
She later said that the injury was hard to process because she had experienced “so many injuries”.
“I’ve been missing from tour for quite a while,” she said. “This is not what I want for myself.”
Asked if she’d considered stopping the match, she said: “No. I was trying to figure out how to win the match, try to fight to live another day.”
Before Monday’s defeat she has brushed aside questions about whether she will retire like her younger sister, Serena, who played her final Wimbledon last year. Asked if she would consider playing at 50, she said: “It’s never been done before so if there is anyone who could do it, it would be me.”
Williams has been hailed as not only one of the modern game’s most important players on the court, but the most influential off it. She led a successful campaign to push the All England Club to equalise the pay between male and female players.
Asked about the impact she had had for other female players, she said: “I don’t think any woman should have to worry about if they’re getting paid equal. I’m very happy that no woman again at a grand slam has to even concern herself with that. She can just play tennis.”
