‘Retiring is the easy way out’: Defiant Venus Williams refuses to bow out at Wimbledon

Only two women in history – Billie Jean King (Wimbledon 1982 and 1983) and Martina Navratilova (Wimbledon, 1994) – have made the last four of a grand slam after their 36th birthday.

AP photo; Illustration by Kevin Jeffers/The National

There have been a few feel-good tales coming out of Wimbledon this season.

In the first week, Englishman Marcus Willis, ranked No 772, grabbed the spotlight through his inspirational tale, putting the sport’s superstars in the shade.

Sam Querrey then took the torch with a stunning triumph over Novak Djokovic in the third round, handing the Serb his earliest exit from a grand slam since his third round defeat to Philipp Kohlschreiber at the 2009 French Open; Djokovic had reached the final of 18 of the 28 majors since, including the past five, winning 11.

Now, Venus Williams has followed Big Sam to the party.

The elder of the Williams siblings, Venus made her Wimbledon debut in 1997 and celebrated her 36th birthday on June 17. In tennis terms, that age is usually considered well past a player’s best days.

Only two other women in history – Billie Jean King (Wimbledon 1982 and 1983) and Martina Navratilova (Wimbledon, 1994) – have made the last four of a grand slam after their 36th birthday.

So, not many would have given Venus a chance of reaching the semis at Wimbledon.

The last time she reached the last four of a major, at the 2010 US Open, Kim Clijsters was still playing and Venus had yet to be diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome, an auto-immune illness that causes chronic fatigue and muscle soreness.

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Venus did not find out about Sjogren’s syndrome until 2011, but she knew something was wrong as her ranking plummeted from No 3 at the 2010 US Open to No 110 12 months later. In February, 2012, she slipped further down to No 137.

Thoughts of retirement, however, never crossed her mind.

“Retiring is the easy way out,” Venus told BBC after booking her place in the last four at Wimbledon. “I don’t have time for easy. Tennis is just hard.”

Tennis became even harder for Venus, and on some days she struggled to climb out of bed or move because of severe pain in her joints. She also had to live with swelling, inflammation, numbness and fatigue, and give up her favourite foods and adopt a vegan diet.

“My biggest challenge? Learning how to live like this,” she said at the 2012 French Open.

The lessons were tough, of course, as Venus reached the fourth round of a grand slam just once in 13 attempts between 2011 and 2014. Three of those visits were brought to an end in the first round and five in the second.

Venus, however, was defiant.

“I won’t let it beat me,” she had said in 2011 and by 2015, Venus started winning a few of the battles against her condition, reaching the quarter-finals at the Australian Open and the US Open, where she lost to her younger sister. And now, following her 7-6 (5), 6-2 quarter-final win over Kazakh Yaroslava Shvedova, Venus, a seven-time grand slam winner, is only one win away from her first major final since Wimbledon, 2009.

“Being in the semi-finals feels good,” Venus said. “But it doesn’t feel foreign at all, let’s put it that way. The road [to get here] was six years. They go by fast, thankfully.

“I don’t have any regrets about anything that’s taken place in between. It’s been a journey, but it’s made me stronger. I wouldn’t wish it any other way. It’s easy to be afraid. I never thought what I might have been able to achieve if I hadn’t been ill. It could have been different, but it wasn’t.”

“Big moments” like these have kept Venus going and now she is ready for her next opponent - Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber, who has won three of their five duels.

“We haven’t played in a while and clearly she’s had a great year with a great result in a slam, but I’d love to be walking towards the final,” Venus said.

Not just that, Venus would love to end her campaign in Hollywood-style with a fairytale win in the final, which, given that Serena is playing Elena Vesnina in the other semis, could be the first all-Williams grand slam final since Wimbledon, 2009.

“Real life is what Hollywood is based off of so hey, let’s do it,” said Venus.

The world will definitely be rooting for her, even if Serena is on the other side of the net. But first, she needs to get past Kerber.

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