Why Venus Williams should consider retirement.

MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
Nadal and Federer have been at a very different place from Venus for a very long time. 2017 was an anomaly for her whereas (insert Federer and Nadal's bad years this decade) have been anomalies for them. She's spent most of the last decade being a shell of the player she once was. Truth is, save for a few Wimbledon in the second half of the noughts, she changed post-2003 and never was the same as before. Now she is like two steps slower than she once was.

Lol considering she has an auto-immune condition (and again, I personally know how that feels), trust me she has zero reason to be dissappointed.
 

upchuck

Hall of Fame
Lol considering she has an auto-immune condition (and again, I personally know how that feels), trust me she has zero reason to be dissappointed.
Part of this is my own personal disappointment that she didn't achieve more than she did. Venus Williams was a double-digit slam talent. Only god knows how many lessor girls are going to beat her record in the future.
 

MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
Part of this is my own personal disappointment that she didn't achieve more than she did. Venus Williams was a double-digit slam talent. Only god knows how many lessor girls are going to beat her record in the future.

On this I agree. She's one of the unluckiest WTA players of all time. Peaked RIGHT when Serena was at her absolute best in 02. Without Serena, Venus would have at least 12 slams and a LOT more time at #1. No one was beating Serena in 2002.
 

jarko111

Hall of Fame
Venus will play the Olympics and then go to full-time doubles. Watch the two documentaries. She makes A couple statements about playing doubles only when she’s too old for singles. This was also said in coordination with Serena. But Serena might want a bigger family. I don’t think Venus is interested in all that if she ever was.
 

Lleytonstation

Talk Tennis Guru
Unfortunately thanks to the big 3 slam race, Fed and SW age, many kind of forgot about what she was doing at times. She has had an amazing career, and deserve every bit of accolades that should come her way when she does officially call it quits.

I hope it headlines the tennis world when it happens regardless of anything else that is happening at the time. She deserves it.
 

skaj

Legend
Graf won Wimbledon, U.S Open, and YEC aged 27. :-D She had a couple embarassing losses to Coetzer (her career long nemisis) at 27, but I think those other big titles and spending most of her age 27 at #1 more than suffices.

Not a big Graf fan but she won the French Open and reached the Wimbledon final in her last 2 slams around turning 30, then retired. She retired still on top of the game. Maybe she didnt even want to risk retiring any other way but that, many champions cant handle retiring as shadows of themselves or as pretenders. I have no problem with Venus playing as long as she wants, but clearly she isnt going to retire in the same position, which is fine if that is what she is content with.

You should go back and read all of my post in this thread, cause you misunderstood what I wrote.
 

D-Lite

Hall of Fame
Yes, she can retire whenever she chooses.

But I think she has her eye on the 2020 Olympics and playing doubles with her sister. That is just a year away.

After that, I'd bet she retires.
This is my bet also - either at the conclusion of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, or a few weeks later at the US Open. Venus is a 4x Olympic Gold Medalist, winning 3 alongside her sister, so it's obvious why she adores the spectacle and why it'd be a fitting finale to her glittering career.
 

Purplemonster

Hall of Fame
Why are people so bothered about people carrying themselves with "grace" and "respect" (whatever that means)? I came to watch tennis, not a virtue signalling competition. That's why I love Kyrgios, dude just doesn't care about this politically correct nonsense.

Not caring about political correctness makes perfect sense, but being rude and disrespectful is another thing.
 

THUNDERVOLLEY

G.O.A.T.
I suppose this is you speaking from your long experience on the ATP Tour.

Its pretty clear you are no professional in the sport, since you speak like a self-interested fanboy more concerned with keeping players on a court forever for your so-called "enjoyment" (instead of the player's reasons for being in/achieving in the sport) unsuccessfully sold as a concern for a player's desire to "just play."


Graf won Wimbledon, U.S Open, and YEC aged 27. :-D She had a couple embarassing losses to Coetzer (her career long nemisis) at 27, but I think those other big titles and spending most of her age 27 at #1 more than suffices.

Not a big Graf fan but she won the French Open and reached the Wimbledon final in her last 2 slams around turning 30, then retired. She retired still on top of the game. Maybe she didnt even want to risk retiring any other way but that, many champions cant handle retiring as shadows of themselves or as pretenders.

Good points; I do think Graf did not want to stay on the court for another few years if she was not winning majors, which was her focus. It would have been embarrassing for Graf to hang around, long past her ability to win majors, letting younger players "make their name" by defeating her.
 

EP1998

Semi-Pro
Tennis as a business is different than when Graf played.

Venus is more than a player, she's a brand. Her brand goes beyond winning titles, it's also about promoting an active lifestyle, eating well, trying your best etc. It's also about breaking down barriers and perceptions of what pro athletes "should" do.
 

AM75

Hall of Fame
Navratilova won a major in mixed doubles at 50. So nothing wrong with playing as long as you enjoy it.
 

AM75

Hall of Fame
Part of this is my own personal disappointment that she didn't achieve more than she did. Venus Williams was a double-digit slam talent. Only god knows how many lessor girls are going to beat her record in the future.
I doubt anyone from current WTA will win Wimbledon 5 times. Even 7 slams is an unreal number.
 
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