"If there was one to drive it, it would be me": Venus Williams hints she will play into her 50's

Venus Williams hinted that she could continue playing on the WTA tour until the age of fifty, shortly before her debut at Wimbledon.

The 7-time Grand Slam champion refuses to retire from tennis and this year marks her 29th year as a professional. At 43 years old, Williams will be the oldest player at Wimbledon (in fact, the oldest on the tour).

In the women's main draw at the All England Club, only five players over the age of 35 will be present: Tatjana Maria, Sara Errani, Barbora Strycova, Kaia Kanepi, and Venus Williams. However, Williams surpasses the second oldest on the list by 5 years.

When asked recently if she believes she can continue playing until the age of 50, Williams responded:

“It’s never be done before so if there was one to drive it, it would be me,” Venus said.

The former world No. 1 reminisced about her first participation in Wimbledon in 1997, a tournament she won five times (2000, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2008), and the changes that have occurred since then:

“Oh man, it rained for five days in a row," she said.

"So mostly it was sitting in the lounge waiting to play. I don’t think it has ever done anything like that since so it was an interesting year to get started.

“I played on Court One the year it opened so that was pretty special too. It’s awesome to be back. There is nothing like the green grass of Wimbledon. The biggest change was obviously the prize money in 2007. That is the biggest and most important change.”

In 2023, Williams started the year with a victory over Katie Volynets at the ASB Classic, but she was eliminated from the tournament in the second round by China's Zhu Lin. After the tournament, "Queen V" announced an injury that would keep her off the courts indefinitely, but she made a comeback at the 's-Hertogenbosch Open where she lost in the first round.

The former world No. 1 showed that despite her age, her tennis level is still there, as she secured a great victory against Camila Giorgi at the Birmingham Open and then fell to Jelena Ostapenko in a three-set match against the Latvian, who is currently ranked 9th in the Race to the WTA Finals.

Her debut at Wimbledon will take place on Monday, July 3rd, on Center Court against Ukrainian Elina Svitolina.