It’s hard to call Venus Williams a Cinderella. But her storybook doubles run at the U.S. Open ended Tuesday.
Did her career at the top level end with it?
Williams and Leylah Fernandez were beaten in the quarterfinals by the top-seeded duo of Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova 6-1, 6-2.
Both Townsend and Siniakova clapped in appreciation of Williams, along with the entire Louis Armstrong crowd. The 45-year-old Williams walked off to a standing ovation, waving to the fans. Was she waving goodbye to her competitive career?
While this run showed she can still do damage in doubles, her preference is to be a singles player. But with her venerable age, and public distaste for long flights, where exactly does that leave her going forward?
“I think out there Leylah and I, we kept telling each other to be the best singles player we could be. So our focus will always be singles,” Williams said. “I’m not going to suddenly become a doubles player. I never did. I never will. It’s the singles for me.”
Williams is one of the game’s all-time greats, with seven Grand Slam titles in singles, 14 in doubles (with her sister Serena) and two more in mixed doubles. But at 45, she’s not only the second-oldest person to ever play singles in the U.S. Open, but both open about her distaste for traveling and coy about her future.
“I don’t know,” Williams insisted. “I was so focused on this tournament here. I really felt like we had a chance to really continue to play into the tournament, so I haven’t given that any thought.
“I do have commitments, places I said I’d be, people expecting me to be there the next few weeks. So I have to go and show up. I’m very serious about my commitments. I would never want to cancel now, so I’ll try to keep those. If there is [an] opportunity for me to play, then hopefully I can get back somewhere this year. I just don’t know. I really don’t.”
Townsend and Siniakova — aiming for their third Grand Slam final as a duo, and first in Flushing Meadows — will face fourth-seeded Elise Mertens and Veronika Kudermetova in the semis. But the magnitude of the moment was not lost on them.
“Venus is a legend,” Townsend said, adding Williams was the inspiration to get her to pick up a racket.
“The earliest memory is obviously watching her, especially here at the U.S. Open. I loved her back-out Reebok dress. That’s what drew me to tennis,” Townsend said in an on-court TV interview. “Growing up watching her and Serena was an inspiration to me and my sister (Symone). It was an honor to share the court with her.”
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