"I knew that it was going to be bad" - Venus Williams opens up about her hamstring injury, reveals diagnosis

Venus Williams has revealed the details of the hamstring injury she suffered at the ASB Classic in Auckland last month, stating that she knew right away that the injury was bad.

The former World No. 1 started her 2023 season at the WTA 250 event in New Zealand. She booked her place in the second round by beating Katie Volynets 7-6(4), 6-2. Here, she lost 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 to Zhu Lin in a match that was often halted due to rain.

The 42-year-old suffered a hamstring injury during the contest, which eventually forced her to withdraw from the Australian Open.

In a video she uploaded to her YouTube channel, Venus Williams spoke about her injury, stating that she felt a pop in her leg during her defeat to Zhu Lin.

"In the third set, I managed to hurt my leg. I'm running, I'm running, I'm running and then I feel this pop, and I'm like 'Oh no'. I didn't have enough time to think whether or not it was a good thing or bad thing but maybe I thought it was bad, and I guess my coach and physio were telling me, 'Call the trainer'," Venus Williams said.

"But I've hurt my hamstring enough to know that there's nothing to be done once you hurt it, like, either you keep playing or don't, but there's nothing you can do," she added.

Williams said that playing a long match against Zhu, which was hampered by rain, was the craziest circumstance she has experienced in her playing career.

"I did not call the trainer. I think I just panicked and threw up on myself the rest of the match, like, I just had shots that I could hit winners. I unfortunately walked off the court not a winner of that match and you know, about a seven or eight-hour encounter which really were the craziest circumstances I played in in my long, long, long, long career," the Venus Williams expressed.

The 2000 Sydney Olympics champion said that she decided to get an MRI the following day, the results of which confirmed tears in her hamstring.

"I'm just walking off the court just limping and thinking, 'This isn't good'. I do a full cool-down and I couldn't really stretch. I wake up the next day and I tell my physio, 'Let's get an MRI'. I got my results later that day and it was no surprise that I had tears in my hamstring attachment," Venus Williams said.

"I knew that it was going to be a bad injury," she added. "That's the point when I withdrew from the Australian Open. I had a wildcard and it was so awesome, but it wasn't for me and I wanted someone else to have that opportunity because I knew I wouldn't have a chance to play."

---

"Hopefully sooner than later" - Venus Williams not setting a timeframe for return

Venus Williams in action at the ASB Classic

Venus Williams stated that she did not see the doctor for a while before doing so and starting her rehab as she was overwhelmed and needed some time off.

"I kind of spent the first week not seeing the doctor. I just had an MRI and I felt just super overwhelmed. But after about a week I started setting up my doctor's appointments and started thinking about what was next for me and trying to really get a handle on like, how much time it would take for me to get back," she said.

The 42-year-old confirmed that she has started her rehab and confessed that she will need a long time to get back to her normal state.

"I'm still in that process now. This is the kind of injury where you have to let it rest a little bit before you can even start to do serious rehab. But I've started. Definitely a slow start, you gotta walk before you run and right now I'm starting to walk pretty good and hopefully I'll be running really soon. But for now, I will not be playing tennis," she stated.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion said that she needed to get to a place where she felt confident with her body once again. She also said that she did not know when she would return to action but hoped it would be sooner rather than later.

"I think my next step is to get to to a place where I feel confident in my body again I definitely need to build confidence in it again and I'll get there, god willing. I'll take you guys on this journey with me, back to health, back to tennis hopefully. Hopefully sooner than later, I don't know exactly when but I'll let you know," she opined.