There are many questions fans are eager to have answered as the 2012 tennis season dawns, but one of the most intriguing surrounds Venus Williams.
Does she have the motivation (and health) to mount another successful comeback to the top of the sport? Or has the time for Venus’ swan song finally arrived?
Saying goodbye to a beloved champion is something no tennis fan longs to do, and when it comes to the retirement of either Venus or Serena Williams, fans are passionate. As much as many would like to believe otherwise, the Williams sisters are not superhuman and eventually, they will finally bow out from the sport they took by storm nearly two decades ago.
It has been 18 memorable years since a 14-year-old Venus turned professional. No one could have guessed that the powerful teenager would grow into one of the sport’s most respected champions. Venus’ resume stands among the all-time greats. And who can forget her vise grip on Wimbledon, with five championship titles in just eight years?
However, the Venus who had a stranglehold on SW19 is far different from the Venus we will see in Auckland next month–if she even plays at all. After a disappointing 2011 season with an 8-3 record, Venus revealed the source behind her troubles—a bout of Sjögren’s Syndrome, a disease which attacks the immune system.
Much has been said about the effects of this disease, but Venus remains confident that she will make a full recovery. And not just a full physical recovery–Venus has her sights set on recovering her ranking and former status at the top of the sport.
That will be a tall order even for this 6’1″ veteran. Her season-ending ranking is a dismal No. 103, nearly 100 spots removed from her No. 5 ranking at the 2011 Australian Open. Still, Venus remains undaunted. In statements recently reported by Reuters, Venus acknowledges that she has a long road ahead, but is willing to press forward.
“My goal next year is to play a full schedule. It will take some work to get there, but I’m no stranger to hard work,” said Venus. “I love the game. The racket feels right in my hand and I’m planning on going right back to where I was at the top of the rankings in the singles and doubles sometime within the next 12 months.”
Whether or not she will succeed remains to be determined over the next 12 months. But even if this is her last season and she continues to slip down the rankings, Venus deserves to be commended.
Not many players get to leave the sport on their own terms, and for a champion so determined as Venus, she deserves to have a chance to quit when she is ready and not one tournament before. She has more than earned the right to have a chance to attempt yet another comeback.
Whether she is winning or losing, tennis benefits from having Venus in the game, and not just because she is one of the biggest tournament draws. Her sportsmanlike behavior, her graciousness in defeat and victory, and even-keeled personality has done more to win her fans than even her five Wimbledon titles.
It is because of all this that this one tennis fan hopes 2012 will not be the year Venus finally sings her swan song.
Aaress Lawless is the former Editor-in-Chief of On the Baseline Tennis News. Since leaving the tennis journalism scene in 2010, she has worked as a public relations consultant for DuoParadigms Public Relations & Design, Inc.
