What Keeps Venus Williams Competing Even At 45?: 'Winning Knows No Age':

Thursday, 07 August 2025 at 18:00

byErik Virostko

Venus Williams doesn't plan to talk about her retirement, as she still enjoys what she's doing, even though that's extraordinary at 45.

The legendary American is by far the oldest player on the WTA Tour. The oldest player in the Top 100 is currently the 37-year-old Tatjana Maria, who is more than seven years younger than Williams.

Despite being way past her prime, Williams continues competing, most recently playing at the Citi Open in Washington. She even managed to win a match in Washington, beating Peyton Stearns in the first round. Then, she lost to Magdalena Frech.

After that, Williams received a wild card for the Cincinnati Open, and she has already arrived at the venue. Ahead of the WTA 1000 tournament, she spoke about her surgery and the progress that she has managed to do since then.

"After my surgery, I couldn’t even stand up straight. There was definitely a progression. Tennis was in the back of my mind, but I felt like I had time, as strange as that sounds. I feel like I had time to get well."

"I was feeling so much gratitude that I was able to have the resources to finally get through that. I was nowhere near playing professional tennis, but a year later, I’m in a completely different space, and I have a clean bill of health."

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Williams is 45, and some fans are stunned that she continues competing, but she has an answer for them. She loves playing tennis, and since she still has the option to keep doing that, she does.

"Love is the key, right? If you don’t love it, then get out of it, if you can, if you have that luxury. Not everyone has that luxury. For me, I think a lot of the motivation is just to come back and try to play in the best health that I can. I never stopped hitting the ball, even when I was away."

"At the end of the day, you have to live your life on your own terms. Your terms should be yours. It doesn’t matter what anyone else says or what anyone else thinks, if you get to live life on your own terms, it’s a life well lived. I firmly believe in that."

"I do what I do because I want to live life the way I want to, unapologetically, with no regrets, on my terms. Do my terms always come out the way I want them to? No, but at least I tried to live on my own terms. That’s super-important to me. That would be my advice: Make your terms and don’t surrender."

"There’s one thing I know, you’re never too young to win or lose. Winning and losing knows no age. All that matters for me is that I’m prepared and ready."