Venus Williams: The Tennis Star will miss the whole 2010 season due to Injury
Venus Williams, the world number three women’s tennis player, has been ruled out for the remainder of the year because of injury. The older sister of another great tennis player, Serena Williams, Venus has been a dominant force in the world of women’s tennis
for a very long time. She was the first African American woman to reach the number 1 spot of the world singles ranking in the history of the sport. Recently though, she has been plagued with a knee injury which means she will be out for the rest of the 2010
season.
Venus turned pro in 1994 and since then she has slowly taken over the sport of women’s tennis. She did not manage to score any wins in the first few years of playing but in 1997 she started to experience some early success. At the end of 1997, she managed
to rank number 22 in the world. At the start of 1998, she made it to the final of the Medibank International Sydney where she lost to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario. This helped her rankings jump to number 16 in the world for the first time. She also made it to the
quarterfinal of the Australian Open that year where she lost to Lindsey Davenport.
Her first singles title came in 1998 when she defeated Joannette Kruger to win the IGA Tennis Classic. It was also in 1998 that she first experienced problems with her knees when she suffered patella tendinitis in the left one. She rebounded though and her
first outing at Wimbledon saw her lose in the quarterfinal to Steffi Graf.
At the start of the 2000 season, Venus missed the first four months of the year with tendinitis in both her wrists. Over the years her left knee has caused problems but it was her wrists that stopped her playing this time. The year 2000, was when Venus won
her first Grand Slam title winning Wimbledon in style. She also won the US Open that year and she finished the year at world number 3 after winning a total of six singles titles. From 2000-2002 the Williams sisters dominated almost every tennis contest that
they played in and it started one of the fiercest and strongest sibling rivalries in sports history.
The next few years were not good for the tall tennis star. She experienced several injuries and inconsistent results on the court until 2006. Her previous wrist injury returned and she lost many matches during this time. She eventually found her form again
in the 2007 season and returned to dominance. She won Wimbledon that year despite being ranked 31 in the world and seeded 23rd in the tournament. Venus became the lowest seeded female player in history to win the prestigious British event.
In 2010 she returned to the top three in the world despite injuries returning and proved why she is one of the best in the world. During her amazing career, the older Williams sister has won 585 matches while only losing 143 which gives her a win-loss percentage
of 80%. She has won 43 singles championships in her career and she has also won Wimbledon 5 times, the US Open twice and also has an Olympic gold medal.
In September of 2010, Venus was ruled out of the US Open due to a recurring problem with her left knee. She is likely to miss both the WTA Tour Championship as well as the Fed Cup this year. She sprained her left kneecap in early August and the injury got
worse as time went on. She is currently undergoing therapy and using crutches to keep pressure off of it until it can properly heal. She is all set to return with a bang for the 2011 season and will try and regain the number 1 ranking in the world from her
sister Serena who currently holds it.
At the age of 30, Venus may not have long to go before she has to retire from the game. With constant injuries plaguing her, it may give her pause to think about slowing down a bit. But she is a fighter and she may overcome this injury and make a huge comeback
next year.
Tags: