Venus Williams, who beat Veronika Kudermetova in an incredible triumph at the age of 43, was thrilled to defeat a top-20 player for the first time in four years.
The Russian world No. 16 was defeated 6-3, 7-5, by the No. 533-ranked American tennis superstar at the Cincinnati Masters.
Williams found herself 4-1 down in both sets, but she overcame it by going back in time.
Williams is getting ready for the US Open, which starts on August 28, when she is expected to be given a wildcard.
Williams was overjoyed with her straight-sets victory over Kudermetova, which is a great boost ahead of the year’s last major tournament in New York. Williams is a seven-time Grand Slam champion.
Williams laughed when it was suggested to her that instead of continuing to compete on the WTA Tour, she could be enjoying retirement on a yacht: “Where would the yacht be? Do not tempt me!
“I love this game; it’s what I do, and the injuries over the past few years have been challenging.”
“I want to be strong and able to be myself when I come out here.” I want to get there because it’s important to me. Being able to win despite having little time to prepare is [gratifying].
When you’re down a double break, you may start to have simple ideas like, “Well, I at least want to just hold serve for the rest of this set,” or something like.
Then you begin to draw nearer. There are some significant holes today that I normally don’t play from, and you think, “Okay, maybe I just want to win another point.” That’s tennis, though. What makes it exciting is that.
Williams’ victory over Kudermetova put a stop to a string of three consecutive singles losses to Jelena Ostapenko, Elina Svitolina, and Madison Keys.
Williams fell to Svitolina in the opening round of Wimbledon last month, screaming in pain and appearing to twist her knee as she went down.
Svitolina won 6-4, 6-3, but Williams stood up and continued to play, focusing now on the US Open while the veteran turned her attention to the contest.