US Open: invited and unranked, Venus Williams will play her sister Serena’s retirement tournament

Serena Williams shocked the tennis world when he revealed last week that he is playing his last matches as a professional, aged 41, sparking speculation that the next US Open It will be the last tournament of his career. The news caused an exponential increase in the number of tickets sold for the last Grand Slam event of the year, and the organizers of the event gave a good news to the winner of 23 majors: granted an invitationwild card) to her sister Venus.

The older of the Williamses, who does not currently have a position in the WTA rankings, is 42 years old and last competed in a Grand Slam championship in singles at Wimbledon 2021, when she fell in the second round against the current number 2, the Tunisian Ons Jabeur. To play, she will return after two years to Flushing Meadows, where she lost in her 2020 debut against the Czech Karolina Muchova.

Venus, who won the US Open in 2000 and 2001 and was at the top of the rankings during the first half of 2002, had been sidelined with injuries for almost a yearuntil returned to the circuit in the middle of this year, when he performed alongside Jamie Murray in the Wimbledon mixed doubles (reached the round of 16). He then went on the North American tour, losing successive opening nights in Washington, Toronto and Cincinnati.

In addition to both sisters (Serena will compete with a protected ranking position), the United States Tennis Association (USTA) provided places in the women’s event to the locals Sofia KeninAustralian champion in 2020, and Coco VandewegheMuchova and the French Harmony Tanwho eliminated Serena Williams herself in the opening wheel of Wimbledon 2022. Among the men who were invited stand out Dominic Thiem, who won this tournament in 2020; the store Sam Querrey and the French Ugo HumbertBesides protected Borna Coric, Kyle Edmund y Stan Wawrinkathe 2016 champion, who will return to the competition after three years.

Serena communicated her desire to leave tennis to spend more time with her family and have a second child, in an extensive letter published in the magazine Vogue: “I have never liked the word “retirement”. It doesn’t seem like a modern word to me,” he warned. “I’ve been thinking about this as a transition, but I want to be sensitive about how I use that word, which means something very specific and important to a community of people. Perhaps the best word to describe what I’m doing is “evolution”. I am here to tell you that I am moving away from tennis, towards other things that are important to me. A few years ago I quietly started Serena Ventures, a venture capital firm. Shortly after that, I started a family. I want to grow that family,” she elaborated.

“There is no happiness in this subject for me. I know it’s not usual to say it, but I’m in a lot of pain,” she continued. “It’s the hardest thing I could ever imagine. I hate it. I hate having to be at this crossroads. I keep telling myself that I wish it was easy for me, but it isn’t. I’m torn: I don’t want it to end, but at the same time I’m ready for what’s next. I don’t know how I’m going to be able to see this magazine when it comes out, knowing that this is it, the end of a story that started in Compton, California, with a black girl who just wanted to play tennis”, she became sensitive.

The multi-champion delved into the review of her career. “This sport has given me a lot. I love to win. I love the battle. I love to entertain. I’m not sure all gamers see it that way, but I love entertaining people week after week. I had some of the happiest times of my life waiting in that hallway in Melbourne, and walking into the Rod Laver Arena with my headphones on and trying to stay focused and drown out the noise, but feeling the energy of the crowd. Night games at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows. Getting an ace on set point”, the former number 1 was moved.