Former British tennis player John Lloyd thinks Serena Williams definitely played a bit longer because she was motivated by chasing records, while Venus Williams still plays purely because of her love for the game. Serena, who will be turning 42 in September, retired after last year’s US Open.
On the other side, Venus – who turned 43 on Saturday, is still active. “Serena, okay you could say that she was chasing records and that may have kept her longer than she would have normally played. Venus is not going after any records, she just loves to play, and I love to see it.
She’s like Jimmy Connors. Jimmy wasn’t chasing any records. Ken Rosewall, getting to the finals of those tournaments at 39 or 40. The love of that game, Venus I believe, and probably Serena too, but Venus, I see her hitting balls till she is whatever, 80-90.
She is just that sort of person who loves hitting the ball,” Lloyd said on Tennis Channel, via Sportskeeda.
Venus Williams played in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Serena came to watch
After sustaining a hamstring injury in her first tournament of the season in Auckland, Venus was sidelined for six months.
This past week, Venus made her return as she competed on the grass courts of ‘s-Hertogenbosch. In her ‘s-Hertogenbosch opener, Venus was close to clinching a win as she was up by a set and a break before Celine Naef came back to win 3-6 7-6 (3) 6-2.
In her first match back, Venus was supported by Serena, who came to the Netherlands for her sister’s comeback tournament. Even though Venus didn’t get a win, she felt good during and after the match. Now, seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus is set to participate at a WTA 250 event in Birmingham. In her lone Birmingham appearance in 2019, Venus made the quarterfinal before losing to Ashleigh Barty.