{"id":232798,"date":"2025-07-20T22:55:19","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T22:55:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abianewscentral.com.ng\/venus-williams-45-to-end-16-month-layoff-in-washington-channels-television\/"},"modified":"2025-07-20T22:55:19","modified_gmt":"2025-07-20T22:55:19","slug":"venus-williams-45-to-end-16-month-layoff-in-washington-channels-television","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/venus-williams-45-to-end-16-month-layoff-in-washington-channels-television\/","title":{"rendered":"Venus Williams, 45, To End 16-Month Layoff In Washington \u2022 Channels Television"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Venus Williams, 45, To End 16-Month Layoff In Washington \u2022 Channels Television<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Venus Williams\u00a0will make her return from a 16-month layoff at this week\u2019s DC Open, the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion saying Sunday she is not sure of anything beyond that.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The 45-year-old American overcame a serious health scare last year and after enjoying a visit to Wimbledon decided to accept a wildcard into the US capital tournament, the first hardcourt tuneup for the US Open.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think I know what I want to do, but I don\u2019t always want to talk about it,\u201d Williams said. \u201cI\u2019m just here for now. And who knows? Maybe there is more. I hold my cards close, but at the moment, I\u2019m focused just on this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Williams will open against 23-year-old American Peyton Stearns, ranked 34th in the world. Stearns won her only WTA title last year on clay at Rabat.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_679654\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-679654\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-679654\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"350\" data-lazy-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.channelstv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Serena-Williams-1.jpg 650w, https:\/\/www.channelstv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Serena-Williams-1-300x162.jpg 300w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.channelstv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Serena-Williams-1.jpg\"\/><noscript><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-679654\" src=\"https:\/\/www.channelstv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Serena-Williams-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.channelstv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Serena-Williams-1.jpg 650w, https:\/\/www.channelstv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Serena-Williams-1-300x162.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\"\/><\/noscript><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-679654\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">USA\u2019s Serena Williams hits a return to Australia\u2019s Ajla Tomljanovic during their 2022 US Open Tennis tournament women\u2019s singles third round match at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York, on September 2, 2022. (Photo by COREY SIPKIN \/ AFP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The older sister of\u00a023-time Grand Slam singles champion Serena Williams has not played since a first-round loss at Miami last year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy personal goal is to have fun I think right now and enjoy the moment, not put too much pressure on myself,\u201d Venus Williams said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know if I define success at this moment in any sort of way other than believing in myself and sticking to my process. That\u2019s not easy to do, especially after a layoff. So those are my goals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ ALSO: Rashford Closing In On Barcelona Move \u2014Reports<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Venus Williams, the 2000 Sydney Olympic singles champion, has won five Wimbledon singles titles and two US Open crowns.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_764123\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-764123\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-764123\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"361\" data-lazy-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.channelstv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Venus-Williams-of-the-United-States-celebrates-winning-the-match-point-against-Veronika-Kudermetova-of-Russia.png 650w, https:\/\/www.channelstv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Venus-Williams-of-the-United-States-celebrates-winning-the-match-point-against-Veronika-Kudermetova-of-Russia-300x167.png 300w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.channelstv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Venus-Williams-of-the-United-States-celebrates-winning-the-match-point-against-Veronika-Kudermetova-of-Russia.png\"\/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-764123\" src=\"https:\/\/www.channelstv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Venus-Williams-of-the-United-States-celebrates-winning-the-match-point-against-Veronika-Kudermetova-of-Russia.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"361\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.channelstv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Venus-Williams-of-the-United-States-celebrates-winning-the-match-point-against-Veronika-Kudermetova-of-Russia.png 650w, https:\/\/www.channelstv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Venus-Williams-of-the-United-States-celebrates-winning-the-match-point-against-Veronika-Kudermetova-of-Russia-300x167.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\"\/><\/noscript><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-764123\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Venus Williams of the United States celebrates winning the match point against Veronika Kudermetova of Russia during their second-round match at the Western &amp; Southern Open at Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, Aug. 14. AFP-Yonhap<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The most recent of her 49 WTA titles came in 2019 at the Taiwan Open. That was the last year she played a full tour schedule.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI definitely feel I\u2019ll play well,\u201d Williams said. \u201cI\u2019m still the same player. I\u2019m a big hitter. I hit big. This is my brand.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo it\u2019s about hitting big and actually putting it in. So this will be my effort. Put it in the court. That\u2019s my main goal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A year ago, tennis was far from the most important thing on her mind.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah, my health journey was very scary. You know, this time a year ago I was preparing to go to surgery,\u201d she said. \u201cThere was no way for me to play tennis or play the US Open\u2026 I was just trying to get healthy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn this last year, I have been through a lot physically, so to come back and be able to play and hopefully enjoy myself is a great opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2018Fun of the challenge\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Williams was feeling well enough to accept a wildcard and a visit to Wimbledon added some inspiration.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had been hitting the ball and of course I love the game and the hard courts. It\u2019s my favorite surface, what I feel comfortable on. so all those different factors,\u201d Williams said of her choice to play in Washington.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I went to Wimbledon this year, I was there for a day and it was so beautiful and exciting. I remembered all the times that I had, and of course the adrenaline, all those things.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think just the pure fun of playing the game, the fun of the challenge, overcoming. Those things are very exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The seven Slam singles titles by Williams match the rest of the Washington field, which includes four-time Grand Slam champion\u00a0Naomi Osaka of Japan.<\/p>\n<p><b>AFP<\/b><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Venus Williams,Wimbledon<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.channelstv.com\/2025\/07\/20\/venus-williams-45-to-end-16-month-layoff-in-washington\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Venus Williams, 45, To End 16-Month Layoff In Washington \u2022 Channels Television \u00a0 Venus Williams\u00a0will make her return from a 16-month layoff at this week\u2019s DC Open, the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion saying Sunday she is not sure of anything beyond that. The 45-year-old American overcame a serious health scare last year and after [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":232799,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[173],"tags":[817,165],"class_list":["post-232798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-venus-williams","tag-wimbledon"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232798\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}