Venus Williams on playing in Puerto Rico: "To play in front of people I've never before, the love was so awesome, I was so grateful"

Venus Williams may have ended her 2023 season after the US Open, but the former World No. 1 has kept busy in her time away from competitive tennis.

The American visited Puerto Rico in September to play an exhibition match against home heroine Monica Puig — who had famously won the country’s first individual Olympic gold at Rio 2016.

In a video on her YouTube channel, Williams fondly recalled her experience of playing in a country that she had never traveled to before.

Describing it as a “huge” opportunity for her, the former World No. 1 said she was grateful for all the love she received from the fans.

"I'd never been to Puerto Rico, okay, I've been a lot of places," Venus Williams said. "So for me to have this opportunity to play tennis and Puerto Rico was huge. For me, to play in front of people I've never gotten to play in front of the love was so awesome, I was so grateful."

"I love what I do and to be able to go there and people appreciate it that much. I just felt like I couldn't give enough, to be honest," she added.

Williams said she had a great time on the trip as she got to explore Puerto Rico, adding that she was unfortunately running on a tight schedule.

"We had a great time on that trip," the former World No. 1 said. "We explored Puerto Rico as much as we could. Actually stayed a few extra hours."

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“An amazing person” - Venus Williams on former Puerto Rico No. 1 player Monica Puig

Venus Williams and Monica Puig during the exhibition match in Puerto Rico.

Venus Williams also had a few positive words to say about her opponent from the Puerto Rico exhibition encounter, Monica Puig.

"Monica Puig, Olympic gold medalist af 2016 Rio, we played against each other and she won the match," Venus Williams said. "She's such a great player, she's one player, I never wanted to play, because she was so good."

Williams said she never liked facing Puig when she was still an active player as her all-round game made her a very tough opponent to get past.

The American, however, was quick to add that beyond the obvious talent and strong game, what stood out about Puig was that she was an “amazing” person.

"Such great technique, such a great athlete, such natural talent, she could do it all, serve return, move well forehead backhand really no weakness," the former World No. 1 said.

"It was unfortunate that she had so many injuries that ended her career," she continued. "She is also amazing person, a nice human being."