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Tennis fans were amazed by Venus Williams' forehand during a training session in Auckland.
The 42-year-old will start the 2023 season at the ASB Classic in Auckland after receiving a wildcard for the WTA 250 tournament. She has arrived in New Zealand and began practicing ahead of the competition.
A video of Williams hitting a strong forehand during a training session shared on social media has caught fans' attention, who were hopeful of her doing well in 2023.
One fan claimed that her forehand showed that she was heading into the new year "mad".
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"The way she’s LEAPING into these forehands, she’s coming into 2023 mad ASL and ready to quiet all the WC back talk," the fan's tweet read.
Another fan hailed Williams' groundstroke technique and said it allowed her to compete with players half her age or even less.
"Lowkey one of the best ground stroke techniques of all time because it’s still allowing her to compete with girls half her age or less and she’s 42," the fan's tweet read.
One use tweeted:
"Vee changed her racket and her forehand! I'm so excited!!!
Here are some more fan reactions:
Venus Williams heads into 2023 on the back of a disappointing 2022 season
Venus Williams enters the 2023 season after a pretty disappointing 2022 season, where she played just four singles matches and won none of them. Her only win came in her first match of the year, a mixed doubles fixture in Wimbledon where she partnered Jamie Murray to defeat Alicja Rosolska and Michael Venus.
The American suffered opening-round defeats at the Citi Open, the Canadian Open and the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati before receiving a wildcard for the US Open.
In New York, she suffered a 6-1, 7-6(5) defeat to Alison van Uytvanck in the opening round of the women's singles event. She partnered with her sister Serena Williams in the women's doubles competition where they were beaten 7-6(5), 6-4 by the Czech pair of Linda Noskova and Lucie Hradecka in the first round.
Venus Williams is currently 1000th in the WTA rankings and will be eager to rise a few spots in 2023. The American is bound to face a tough task in Auckland as her opponents include Coco Gauff, Leylah Fernandez and Sloane Stephens, among others.
It will be interesting to see if the 42-year-old tries to get a wildcard at the Australian Open following the ASB Classic. Her last appearance in the Asia-Pacific Major came in 2021 where she reached the second round before losing to Sara Errani.
Venus Williams and Father Richard recall one match that 7-time Grand Slam champion "should have won"
