Venus Williams Faces Retirement Questions After Losing First Round US Open Match to Alison Van Uytvanck

Will Venus Williams follow her sister, Serena Williams, into retirement following the US Open?

After announcing this would be her last professional tennis tournament prior to the US Open, all eyes were on Serena on Tuesday night, and she was able to coast to a victory over Danka Kovinic.

Unfortunately, Venus Williams wasn’t as fortunate. Playing in her first round match against Alison Van Uytvanck on Tuesday afternoon, Venus lost in straight sets following a second set tiebreak.

In her post-match presser, a clearly dejected Venus Williams dodged questions about her retirement.

“Just focused on the doubles,” Williams told reporters.

Serena and Venus Williams announced ahead of the US Open that they’d be competing together in the doubles competition for one last time before (at least) Serena rides off into the sunset.

“It was Serena’s idea,” Venus said. “She’s the boss. I’ll do whatever she tells me to do.”

Even though she’ll be leaving the tennis world after two decades of dominance, Serena doesn’t necessarily want to use the word “retirement”.

“It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me. I’ve been thinking of this as a transition, but I want to be sensitive about how I use that word, which means something very specific and important to a community of people. Maybe the best word to describe what I’m up to is evolution. I’m here to tell you that I’m evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me,” she told Vogue magazine.

Serena Williams will take on second-ranked Anett Kontaveit in a singles match on Wednesday night before teaming up with her sister on Thursday for doubles.

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