Venus Williams on ending 2023 season after US Open: "Difficult to play tennis when you have the swelling cycle"

Venus Williams recently explained her decision to end her 2023 season right after the US Open.

Williams made a comeback to the WTA Tour in June this year after being sidelined for nearly five months due to a hamstring injury. Her first tournament after returning was the Libema Open, where she was eliminated in the first round. That was followed by a second-round loss to Jelena Ostapenko at the Birmingham Classic.

The American then competed at Wimbledon, where she lost in the first round against Elina Svitolina in her historic 24th appearance on Centre Court. She also slipped and injured her already bandaged right knee at the tournament.

Williams returned nearly a month later, at the Canadian Open, but was defeated in the first round by Madison Keys. She then took part in the Cincinnati Open and faced an early exit again.

The seven-time Major champion finally decided to end her 2023 campaign after an opening-round loss against qualifier Greet Minnen at the US Open.

Venus Williams recently posted a video to her YouTube channel in which she discussed cutting her season short after her home Slam. She recalled her Wimbledon injury nightmare and stated that she wanted to heal her knee, which is why she decided not to play any longer.

"I went to Wimbledon and sadly slipped in the third game of the match and really got injured. I spent the whole summer pretty injured with my knee, like really struggling with it," Williams said (at 1:00).

"I didn't want to miss US Open, made it there, but definitely not my best performance after so much time off after Wimbledon. So, I decided not to play anymore the rest of the year and just give my knee a chance to heal," she added.

The 43-year-old added that a painful knee swelling cycle made it difficult for her to play tennis.

"What was super interesting is once I just sat down, I felt better, I would say," Venus Williams said (at 1:23). "After the Open, I would say maybe like four weeks later I got up, I remember it was a Sunday and I got up and I was like 'Oh my god! I'm not in pain'."

"Just like pain from sitting around, like my knee hurts, my knee is swelling every day. It's very difficult to play tennis or any sport when you have like the swelling cycle, when your body won't stop swelling," she added.

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Venus Williams: "With the swelling I was having, I lost range of motion"

Venus Williams vs Mónica Puig Exhibition Match

Venus Williams elaborated on her knee swelling, claiming that the pain caused her to lose range of motion. She also revealed that her muscles were not activating properly, resulting in muscle loss.

"With the swelling I was having, I lost range of motion. You lose strength when your knee is swelling, also your muscles don't activate anymore. So, your muscles are not activating, you can't train, so you lose muscles. It's a whole cycle," Williams said (at 1:57).

The American added:

"This is what I was going through in the Summer. I couldn't get my swelling down, I lost range of motion, the nature of my injury was you know, all this stuff. But anyway, I was dealing with all that, so, I decided not to play anymore."

Venus Williams made her 2024 comeback plans public two months ago. While she will miss the Australian Open for the third year in a row, she hopes to return to the tour in March.