Former Grand Slam doubles champion Rennae Stubbs thinks there is a good chance Venus Williams will retire at the upcoming US Open, joining her sister Serena Williams.
Emotions will run high at Flushing Meadows when Serena ends her legendary career. The 40-year-old announced she will retire after the year's final Grand Slam earlier this month.
Venus Williams has not indicated that she plans to retire. The 42-year-old returned at Wimbledon after a lengthy period on the sidelines and seems to enjoy continuing to compete despite being past her prime. Her last Grand Slam triumph was at Wimbledon in 2008.
Since retiring from the sport, Rennae Stubbs has become one of the most respected analysts in the game. The Australian also hosts her own podcast, and on an episode, she discussed the possibility of Venus ending her career at the US Open.
Stubbs cannot imagine a world where one of the sisters continues to play without the other. She also thinks Venus has the type of personality that could cause her to lose at the US Open and announce afterward that she is retiring.
"I think that it would very much surprise me if Venus Williams doesn't retire as well at the US Open. It'll be interesting to see what Venus does now because I just can't see one playing without the other."
"Venus, of course, as always very low key, Venus will probably finish the last match and be like, yeah, by the way, that's it. Like, you know, that sort of personality...You know, as I can see, Venus being like 'Yeah, bye. That's it. I'm done'."
It will be very interesting to observe whether Stubbs is correct. Serena, the younger of the two sisters, retiring first is not something many saw coming, and that could push Venus to end her career.