Sabrina Ionescu praises this female tennis player
Why I think WNBA star Sabrina Ionescu Coco Gauff deserves more recognition in tennis.
Samantha Cardona Norberg
The match was over, his smiles were shining, and it was Venus Williams. The 45-year-old icon of the bride, a seven-time Grand Slam champion and 45-year-old tennis icon, is joking about health insurance.
“They let me know I was in Cobra earlier this year, so I had to come back,” she said. She laughed at Renna’s on-court interview with Stubbs after a 6-3, 6-4 victory over the world’s 35th Payton Stearns at the Mbadara City DC Open. “So, ‘I have to make my profit!” You guys know what it’s like. need This insurance. ”
That’s a great line. And the funniest part about it was that Williams entered the tournament as a wild card that hasn’t played on the WTA Tour since March 2024, and without winning an official match in 709 days, there was absolutely no reason for her to play at all.
Williams admits that she intentionally holds her card near the vest. She has never officially retired. She never shut the door. In the past few years on the tour, the results have not been good. The injuries have been piled up, as they tend to do for athletes approaching their 40s.
So, did this tournament have a one-off comeback or comeback out of nowhere? She doesn’t say.
Who cares? She produced magic, even for one memorable night.
“I’ve wanted to do a Coast run many times,” Williams said. “Do you know how difficult it is to play tennis? I don’t know how much work it will take. It’s 9-5 except that you run the whole thing and then lift the weight and then repeat the next day.”
However, her support team wanted her to play at least one more time. Her fiance, Danish-Italian actor Andrea Play, had never seen her play.
And my goodness was that I provided something special, something special that only tennis could offer.
Williams is not the oldest female player to win a match on the WTA Tour. It is Martinana Bratilova, who won the first round match at Wimbledon in 2004. But given how few she’s played recently and how she’ll stand up on Tuesday, she’s not the 23-year-old Williams even won her fourth major at the 2001 US Open.
How did she do that? She served incredibly well with nine aces, ran a very offensive game plan, made Stearns uncomfortable, and fed her on too many forced errors.
Is it sustainable? I understand. Williams will play No. 5 seed Magdalena Fletch on Thursday.
A more important question is whether this victory encourages Williams to continue, and perhaps even requesting a wild card for the US Open.
If Williams were defeated firmly on Tuesday, giving the 45-year-old a pass to the US open field could have been controversial. But now, if that’s what she wants to do, it seems kind of easy.
“I’m just here now, and who knows?” she said at a pre-tournament press conference. “There’s probably more. At the moment, I’m focusing on this. I haven’t played in a year. I’m sure I can play tennis, but I can obviously get back to the match, but it takes time to swing things.
Everyone, including Williams, then laughed out loud. But when she went to court it turned out to be true. She hit big enough to knock the 35th player in the world off the court. She probably isn’t going to compete for another Grand Slam, but if you can do that, you belong.
None of us are truly timeless, but Williams argued in the opposite direction on Tuesday. At 45, she looked as strong as her for years. Whether it was the beginning of something or the last one Harley, the fact that she was willing to put herself there was a gift for fans who had watched tennis and her play pro tournament for 31 years. Even for health insurance only, Williams’ presence can raise the tennis tournament. And even if Tuesday was her last match she has ever won, delivering the moment should be appreciated for all those caring about the sport.
