"I don’t know that I’m willing to travel that far at this stage in my career to play": Emotional Venus Williams gets honest on tennis future

Venus Williams admitted that while she is still enjoying competing, her future plans on tour remain uncertain after her first-round loss at the 2025 US Open.

Williams was defeated by Karolina Muchova and put up a supremely valiant effort in the process at the US Open. She lost 3-6, 6-2, 1-6 in the end to the former semi-finalist. But afterwards it was more her future at the age of 45 that was as ever the topic of more conversation and debate. She said in her press conference that while she still loves playing, Australian Open is unlikely as she doesn't like travelling anymore for tournaments. For a long time only really the US and UK have been her main routes with Wimbledon season ordinarily marking her return but that has been absent this year.

Asked whether she might reconsider playing more tournaments given her improved level, Williams was firm but light-hearted: “Are there any tournaments in the States? Can someone move a tournament here?” she laughed. “I don’t know that I’m willing to travel that far at this stage in my career to play. I love playing, and the level of my game has gone up so much since DC. I tried as hard as I could to throw off any rust. But at the end of the day, there’s only so much that can really be accomplished in three or four matches. There were just some shots I missed—those kinds of shots are about feel and less about training. And those are the things I just couldn’t stave off today.”

Williams went on to stress that her perspective is different now than during the height of her career. “My goal now is not to do everything, I want to do what I want to do. I wanted to be here this summer. I’m so grateful for all the folks who gave me a wild card. They could have said, ‘Hey, you’ve been gone too long, you haven’t won a lot of matches in the last few years.’ I wasn’t lucky with my health and injuries. But there were a lot of people who believed in me in these tournaments. I’m very grateful to have had that chance and opportunity—to make good on it, to really strike the ball. I play an exciting brand of tennis. It’s a lot of fun to go literally hog wild out there and hit as hard as I can. I’m happiest when I can just hit hard.”

When pressed about a potential return to the Australian Open, Williams was quick to acknowledge the demands: “I don’t play in high altitude either, so I won’t be going to Guadalajara. The next major is in Australia, which I’ve played well at many times—but it’s kind of far. That’s a long flight.”

Asked if the travel was truly the deterrent, she smiled: “I did. I did do it. But my goal is to do what I want to do. I didn’t win today, but I’m proud”

Reflecting on the match itself, Williams acknowledged her slow start but remained upbeat. "Yeah, I definitely had a bit of a slow start. But it’s not really a bad thing. I just haven’t played a lot of matches, so I’m still finding everything. I think I had a love-40 game, and I was like, ‘Oh no, not a double break.’ Thankfully, that was avoided, at least in that set. And then I was really able to start to dial into my game. I didn’t win today, but I’m very proud of how I played.”

For the seven-time Grand Slam champion, the atmosphere was one of the biggest highlights.

“The lights are very bright out there. I don’t think I’ve ever had a crowd that much on my side. And then when I lost those first two games, they were still right there with me every point. It didn’t matter if I was losing and it was starting to roll fast, they were just right there with me. And it felt great. I knew going into this match that people in this stadium, people in the United States, people around the world were really rooting for me. And that felt great—having that kind of support.”

Williams pointed to lessons learned in recent weeks as signs of growth. "I think in Cincinnati and DC I didn’t really understand how to control myself yet. So today was a better measure of, ‘OK, you don’t have to hit this one as hard as you can. Play a smart shot, then go for the next one.’ You never stop learning. I learned so much—I’m still learning about myself.

When I think about the match I played against her in 2020, it was progress, perspective and a lot of positives for Queen Vee. "I was so uncomfortable. I wasn’t well. I was in so much pain. Today, it’s night and day how much better I felt. I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to play while feeling better. And at that rate, I have a real chance.”

Above all, Williams emphasised the work she and her team had put in just to return to the court.

“My team and I worked as hard and as fast as we could. We literally took no days off. I haven’t gone to dinner, I haven’t seen friends—I haven’t done anything except train for three months as hard as I could. And then from each match I didn’t win, I tried to go back, learn from it, and get better.”

When asked what she proved to herself, Williams said: “I think for me, getting back on the court was about giving myself a chance to play more healthy. When you play unhealthy, it’s in your mind. It’s not just how you feel—it gets stuck in your mind too. So it was nice to be freer.”