Venus Williams hits the tennis court, gears up for her comeback at Indian Wells and Miami Open 2024

Venus Williams recently returned to the tennis court in a bid to prepare for her comeback at the 2024 Indian Wells and Miami Open.

Williams endured an injury-plagued 2023 season. She competed in the ASB Classic but had to withdraw from the Australian Open, the entire North American hard-court swing, as well as the French Open due to various undisclosed injuries.

The former World No. 1 only participated in eight tournaments in 2023 and played in just two out of the four Grand Slams - the Wimbledon Championships and her home Slam, the US Open.

Last year, the five-time Wimbledon champion received a wild card entry to Wimbledon. However, her campaign at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club was cut short when she suffered a first-round defeat at the hands of Elina Svitolina. Williams sustained an injury during the third game of the match when she unexpectedly slipped and fell.

Following the injury she sustained at Wimbledon, Venus Williams experienced a lackluster remainder of the season. She endured a first-round defeat at the Canadian Open, a second-round defeat at the Western & Southern Open, and another first-round defeat at the US Open, ultimately concluding her season.

Williams recently revealed her plans to participate in the 2024 Indian Wells and Miami Open tournaments in a video posted to her YouTube channel. She also shared that her "little sister" Serena Williams has been a great source of motivation for her decision.

"One of my big goals is to play United States, to play in the Miami Open and at Indian Wells," Williams said [via WTATour.com]. "I have not played there since 2019 due to injuries. It's a long time. ... It's a lot of years not to play at home. So that's of course one of my big goals on the horizon."

"My little sister, Serena, told me I'm not allowed to quit, and of course, I would never quit. But it's the mandate. She said no, so I will be back on the court," she added.

In anticipation of the North American hard-court swing approaching, Venus Williams took to social media to share a picture of herself hitting the courts in preparation for those events.

"Sunday evenings," Williams captioned her Instagram story.

Venus Williams' Instagram stories

Venus Williams reveals why she did not play after US Open 2023: "Decided not to play anymore the rest of the year, give my knee a chance to heal"

Venus Williams at the 2023 US Open

Venus Williams claimed that even after suffering an injury during the 2023 Wimbledon Championships, despite not having fully recovered, she decided to participate in the US Open as she refused to miss out on the opportunity to play in her home slam.

"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," Venus 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.

Williams further stated that she made the decision to provide her knee with some much-needed rest and alleviate the swelling following the New York Slam and consequently chose to conclude her season after the tournament.

"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 said.