The Williams sisters are to take a year off from tennis after losing in the third round of the US Open. Serena Williams gave birth to her first child in September.
“We think it’s pretty smart to go do something different because it’s just good for everybody,” Venus Williams said. “For me, I think it’s best. It’s good to take a rest. Serena doesn’t want to speak for me, but I think that’s what’s best for everybody.”
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The Wimbledon champion, who is 19-14 against Venus, said her sister may find herself back on the court in the next 10 months, depending on her baby’s progress. “She’s definitely trying and she knows it’s the best thing for her,” she said. “But we are both very ambitious. It’s just a matter of when we do come back. It depends. She is taking her time. She’s doing everything properly. It’s the best thing for her, but it’s a wait-and-see, all of us. We are talking about it. We hope things go well.”
Neither was satisfied with their overall performances at Flushing Meadows, with Serena’s 6-3, 6-4 win over CoCo Vandeweghe to be her first win since the Wimbledon final a fortnight before she gave birth. That led to some questions about why she did not stick around for the remainder of the US Open.
“I had a bad day,” Serena said. “I mean, tennis is very, very emotional. It really can get to you. It was a really, really tough day. You know, CoCo played really, really well. She fought her butt off. I’m just really happy I could come out on top.”
“I think that was probably one of the worst performances of my career,” Venus said. “And from what I know Serena does not like that. She would have probably taken another hit. But I think she was just looking forward to maybe just getting some rest, really getting some rehab. I think she has some things that she wants to accomplish that she doesn’t want to let slide because she has waited so long.”