“It was nice to be freer”: Venus Williams tears up in US Open press conference

NEW YORK—Venus Williams teared up at the end of her 2025 US Open press conference Monday evening after reflecting on a lengthy health struggle that kept her off court for nearly two years.

“I think for me getting back on the court was about giving myself a chance to play more healthy,” Williams said following a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 first-round loss to No. 11 seed Karolina Muchova.

“When you play unhealthy, it's in your mind. It's not just how you feel. You get stuck in your mind too. So...it was nice to be freer.”

The former world No. 1 was playing only her third tournament after a 16-month absence due to injuries and health scares, undergoing surgery for uterine fibroids in 2024. She made a winning return to action as a wild card at the Mubadala Citi DC Open and, at 45, became the oldest woman to win a WTA main-draw match since Martina Navratilova in 2004 when she defeated fellow American Peyton Stearns.

Williams subsequently made wild card appearances at the Cincinnati Open and the US Open; returning to Arthur Ashe Stadium for the first time in two years, she pushed two-time semifinalist Muchova to three sets under the lights.

“When I think about the match I played against her in 2020, I was so uncomfortable,” she said, recalling a 2020 US Open defeat to Muchova. “I wasn't well. I was in so much pain. Today it's night and day how much better I felt, so I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to play in feeling better, and at that rate, have a real chance.”

Though she ultimately left Ashe Stadium without the win, Williams arguably played the highest-quality match of her comeback, striking 24 winners and roaring back to level the match after a slow start.

“My team and I, we worked as hard and as fast as we could,” Williams said. “We literally took no days off. I haven't gone to dinner. I haven't seen friends. I haven't done anything except train for three months as hard as I could.

“From each match that I didn't win, then I tried to go back and learn from that and then get better.”

In more jovial moment from the press conference, Williams confirmed she was unlikely to compete in another tournament this season, potentially ruling out the 2026 Australian Open due to her reluctance to travel out of the United States for tennis.

“Can someone move a tournament here?” she asked rhetorically. “I don't know that I'm willing to travel that far at this stage in my career to go play.”

Though it’s unclear when Williams will play again, she crucially did not suggest she was done playing; by contrast, the five-time Wimbledon champion came away from her summer comeback heartened by her improvements over a four-week span.

“My goal is to do what I want to do. I wanted to be here this summer. I'm so grateful for all the folks who gave me a wild card. They could have said, ‘Hey, listen, you've been gone too long, you haven't won a lot of matches in the last few years.’ I wasn't lucky with my health and with injuries.

“But there were a lot of people who believed in me in these tournaments. I'm very grateful to have had that chance and that opportunity to make good on it and have a chance to really strike the ball.”