Venus Williams is highly likely to join her sister Serena Williams in a swansong at the 2022 US Open, believes multi-time Grand Slam doubles champion, Rennae Stubbs.
However, Stubbs opined that, unlike her sister, Venus Williams will convey her retirement decision after she plays her final match at the tournament.
Serena, who has played just four singles matches this season, recently announced that this year's
US Open will be her final career tournament. Meanwhile, the Citi Open earlier this month was 42-year-old Venus' first singles tournament in a year. She has played just three matches going into the US Open.
Speaking on an episode of the Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, Stubbs expressed her opinion on Venus' eventual retirement.
"I think that it would very much surprise me if Venus Williams doesn't retire as well at the US open," Stubbs said.
The Australian feels that the usually low-key Venus will also reflect that aspect of her personality in her retirement announcement. She compared the situation to that of Steffi Graf and her husband Andre Agassi, who are both legendary tennis players. While Agassi had a big farewell, Graf made a sudden announcement.
"It'll be interesting to see what Venus does now because I just can't see one playing without the other," Stubbs continued. "So Venus, of course, as always very low key, Venus will probably finish the last match and be like, yeah, by the way, that's it. Like, you know, that sort of personality...You know, as I can see, Venus being like 'Yeah, bye. That's it. I'm done'."
Venus Williams is yet to win a singles match on the WTA tour this season. She made her tour-level singles comeback at the Citi Open, losing 6-4 1-6 4-6 to Rebecca Marino of Canada. She then lost 2-6 3-6 to Switzerland's Jill Teichmann in the opening round of the Canadian Open. At the Cincinnati Open last week, she lost 5-7 1-6 to 14th seed Karolina Pliskova in her first match there.
The seven-time Grand Slam champion has been given a wildcard entry to the upcoming New York Major, which kicks off on August 29th.