Tennis is as much of a mental jumping-jacks as it’s physical. Pick any player who has made it big on the court. You would find one common thread connecting them – the will to get up no matter what. That’s exactly been Venus Williams’s dogma for success. Per the American, it takes scolding sometimes and sometimes ‘a pat‘ on the back in good proportion to draw out good performance. She recently revealed an old lightbulb moment that has allowed her to ‘always have fun’ to this day irrespective of the results – ‘win, lose, or draw.’

A match isn’t over the moment one of the players emerges victorious. In fact, it goes on as long as players can draw some lesson out of it mentally. Well, Venus did, and she shared her experience on This Morning during an interaction with Dermont O’Leary and Alison Hammond. When Hammond highlighted, there was a time Venus used to be a little too hard on herself. Acknowledging the same, the seven-time grand slam winner said,

“Yeah I was playing a match at the US Open quarterfinals. Big match. I was upset if anybody plays tennis. You know I was up 6-2, 3-1 – which is basically the match is over. But I was so hard on myself that it wasn’t perfect that I ended up losing the entire match.”

Williams further added, “It wasn’t until later that I really realized the score line and that perfection you can go for it, but if you don’t achieve it at that moment, you don’t beat yourself up – so it’s as important as it to be your own best critic…You also have to pat yourself on your back for your successes.”

It’s Williams’ special self-created formula that’s brought her so far and keeping her spirits high even as she grapples with injuries and tough times. The player is keeping difficulties at bay and not allowing those to push her into retirement against her will. 

Venus Williams is ‘not done’ – it’s about where she wants to be

Since injuring her knee at Wimbledon last year, Venus hasn’t been able to devote herself to tennis as much as she would love to. William suffered an opening-round defeat at the US Open last year. And, in 2024, she has only played two matches. In the first round of the BNP Paribas Open, the American was handed a defeat by qualifier Nao Hibino. Then in Miami, Williams suffered a straight-sets loss at the hands of Diana Shnaider. Amid her constant struggle with tennis, the talks of her retirement grew intense.

However, before any of these discussions could affect her, the American put an end to the rumors during an October 9 interview with Irish News. “I’m not done with the racket yet… At this point, it’s about picking and choosing places I want to be. Last year I really wanted to play in Miami – home – because I hadn’t played there in like five years,” said the 44-year-old.

When Venus Williams will be back on-court isn’t certain as she hasn’t hinted at which could be her next playing venue. For all we know, it could be any event now. When do you think she will be back? Let us know in the comments below: