"Stop tempting me" - Venus Williams playfully resists allure of relaxed post-retirement life on a yacht after Cincinnati Open 1R win

Venus Williams joked about resisting the temptation of a leisurely post-retirement life aboard a yacht as she reaffirmed her enduring love for tennis after her remarkable first-round win at the 2023 Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.

On Monday, August 14, Williams upset 16th seed Veronika Kudermetova to record her first win over a top 20 opponent since 2019, when she defeated Kiki Bertens in Cincinnati. Following her win over Bertens, the American icon lost 10 encounters against the top 20 players.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion defeated Kudermetova 6-4, 7-5 in a rain-interrupted encounter. Despite trailing 1-4 in both sets, the 43-year-old showed remarkable resilience to fight her way back into the match. She converted six of her nine break points and hit 15 unforced errors, in contrast to the Russian's 33, to secure victory in just under two hours.

Following her win, Venus Williams was asked about her drive and determination to continue to play professionally instead of enjoying her post-retirement life on a yacht. In response, the American playfully questioned where the yacht would be docked.

"Where’s the yacht going to be?" she asked.

Despite tempting options such as the South of France and Florida laid out for her, the 43-year-old resisted the temptation and emphasized her love and passion for the sport.

"Stop tempting me. I love this game. It’s what I do. The last few years have been difficult in terms of injuries and I want to be able to be out here and be strong and be myself and that’s important to me. I’m trying to get there," she said.

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Venus Williams awaits the winner of Qinwen Zheng and Aliaksandra Sasnovich in Cincinnati Open 2R

Venus Williams advances to second round at Cincinnati Open

Following her win over Veronika Kudermetova, Venus Williams expressed satisfaction over her performance, highlighting the immense effort she had put in to be at the event in Cincinnati.

"Definitely satisfaction from today is [from] all the work that goes into just being here at all. I did my best to be here as soon as possible in the best form possible I could bring in that amount of time. So that makes it satisfying, to be able to get a win with very little time to prepare," she said.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion will take on the winner of the match between Qinwen Zheng and Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the second round of the Cincinnati Open. While the American is yet to meet Zheng on the tour, she leads 1-0 in her head-to-head against Sasnovich.

Having already improved on her performance from last year, where she was defeated by Karolina Pliskova in the first round of the WTA 1000 event, Venus Williams will be aiming to get some more wins under her belt in the lead-up to the US Open.