Venus Williams: "I couldn't move as well as I wanted but I tried to get to every ball that I could"

Venus Williams booked her place in the second round of the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham after defeating Camila Giorgi 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(7) in a thriller that lasted three hours and 16 minutes.

The American praised the Italian after the match and said that there were moments when she thought the match was over. She claimed that she was eventually glad to come out on top.

"I thought I played so well today and she also played incredible. I'm so surprised she isn't number one in the world. There were so many moments when I thought this match is over and she would hit a shot out of nowhere," Venus Williams said.

"So, she pushed me to be better than what I thought I could be and this is great, great for me. I haven't played a lot of matches, great to come through," she added.

Venus Williams also claimed that her leg began to hurt during the third game and that she tried to ignore it. She stated that she was unable to move as well as she wanted to on the court but tried to hit every ball.

"I got to a great start, my leg started hurting in the third game, I was like 'Oh no, not this. It was really hard to control my emotions to be honest and eventually I just acclimated to what I was going through and tried to ignore it. I couldn't move as well as I wanted but I tried to hit every ball that I could," the American said.

Venus Williams' win over Camila Giorgi is only her second win of 2023. She previously competed at the ASB Classic in Auckland and reached the second round by defeating Katie Volynets 7-6(4), 6-2. Here, she lost 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 to Zhu Lin.

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Venus WIlliams will face either Linda Noskova and Jelena Ostapenko in the second round in Birmingham

Venus Williams during her match against Camila Giorgi

After overcoming Camila Giorgi, Venus Williams will next take on either second seed Jelena Ostapenko or Linda Noskova in the second round of the Rothesay Classic.

The American previously faced Ostapenko twice in 2017 and came out on top in both fixtures. She is yet to face Linda Noskova in a singles fixture but faced her in the first round of the women's doubles tournament at last year's US Open when Serena Williams was her partner. Noskova teamed up with Lucie Hradecka, and the pair beat the two sisters 7-6, 6-4.

If Williams wins her next match, she will reach her maiden WTA singles quarterfinal since 2019.