Venus Williams returned to Wimbledon singles play at age 43 and fell 6-4, 6-3, to Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina in the first round on Monday.
Williams, a five-time Wimbledon singles champion, was up 2-0 in the first set when she appeared to injure her already wrapped right knee on a break point that Svitolina converted.
She took a long step to volley near the net, slipped, cried out and dropped to the Centre Court grass, clutching the knee.
She walked back to her chair, had the leg checked out by a medical professional for a few minutes and returned to keep playing.
Venus Williams went down on the court after slipping near the net.
— ESPN (@espn) July 3, 2023
She returned to play after taking an injury timeout. pic.twitter.com/h3zXL7Evc1
“I’m not sure what I’ve done,” Williams said of the injury. “I have to investigate it tomorrow, but it was quite painful. ... It was very hard to focus on what I was doing.”
Svitolina won the next three games and 10 of the 15 games total after Williams’ fall.
Williams was playing her first Grand Slam match since last year’s U.S. Open. She received a wild card into Wimbledon, returning to play on Centre Court exactly 25 years and two days after her debut on the most famous court in tennis.
“I started the match perfectly,” Williams said. “I was literally killing it, and then I got killed by the grass [slipping]. It’s not fun right now. I felt like I was in great form coming into this tournament.”
Asked whether she will play the U.S. Open later this summer, Williams said she was still in shock over Monday’s match and has “to figure out my next plan.”
In Saturday’s pre-tournament press conference, the inevitable questions arose about whether Williams has planned when she might walk away from the sport (“If I did, I wouldn’t tell you,” came the reply) and whether she could see herself on tour at age 50 (“It’s never been done before, so if there was one to try it, it would be me,” she said).
One more try: Might there be the sort of announced farewell a la Serena’s, allowing for a collective goodbye?
“Like I said: If I knew I wouldn’t tell you,” she answered with a hearty laugh.
Also Monday, 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, whose ranking fell to 426 last year, upset No. 7 seed Coco Gauff 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 in an all-American match.
Kenin is the most recent American to win a major singles title. Since, the country has gone through its longest major singles title drought in history.
Kenin earned her first main-draw win at a major since 2021 Wimbledon. She has since dealt with COVID-19, injury and coaching changes.
Favorites Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek swept their first-round opponents.
Djokovic, seeking to tie records with an eighth Wimbledon men’s singles title and 24th Grand Slam singles title, came back from an hour-plus rain delay to beat 68th-ranked Argentine Pedro Cachin 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (4). He next gets 70th-ranked Jordan Thompson of Australia.
Swiatek, seeking her first senior Wimbledon title and fifth major overall, eliminated 34th-ranked Zhu Lin of China 6-1, 6-3. She next plays Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo, who is on a protected ranking of 68.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Stunning Sofia 🌟
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 3, 2023
Qualifier @SofiaKenin prevails in a high-quality battle against fellow American Coco Gauff, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 🙌 #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/vgewwv2RSl
