Venus Williams denies quitting was a serious option

Venus Williams denies quitting was a serious option
Reuters

MAY 5: A new-look, leaner Venus Williams denied she had come close to retiring after spending five months on the sidelines with injured wrists and said she felt confident of winning her comeback tournament.

The 19-year-old, whose father and coach Richard advised her to consider ending her five-year-long career in March because of tendinitis in her wrists, said she had not seriously considered retirement.

``No, not too much,'' she told reporters at the $535,000 Hamburg Cup after recovering from a shaky start to her first competitive match since November 22 to March into the quarter-finals of a tournament she won last year.

But she said a serious injury could force her to think again.

``If I wanted to I could retire and not look back bitter or feel like I've missed out on something,'' said Williams, who is still ranked number three in the world despite not hitting a ball on the tour this year.

``I've done a little bit in tennis and if I didn't want to play any more I would move on in my life.''

The break, which Williams used to catch up with her fashion design studies and to work on her French, had helped her accept her father's advice not to rush back to the circuit and to think about life beyond tennis, she said.

``I could have been out the whole year if I didn't be easy on myself.''

Second-seeded Williams, who beat Romanian Irina Spirlea 6-7, 6-2, 6-2, lacked some of the devastating power that has made her the fastest server in women's tour history and admitted she had lost a lot of weight during her lay-off.

But she said a new mental aggression had helped her compensate as she fought back to take the second and third sets.

``Before I had the injuries, when I lost a set like that I was never angry,'' she said. ``But now that I've come back I'm angry at everything. I've had a lot of time to think about my game.''

Williams, who initially shed more than 10 kilos from a once rippling physique after a bout of tonsilitis, said she was happier with her new slimline figure and saw benefits for her game.

``Naturally I want to be stronger and maybe have more muscles, but when you're slimmer it's easier to move around the court.''

More than five months of relaxing with her dog and her father would more than compensate for her weight loss, she said.

``I actually feel a lot stronger because I'm not tired.''

But although her time off, which she also spent looking after both her and doubles partner sister Serena's business interests, mellowed her in some ways, Williams said she remained hungry to defend her title successfully.

``I want to win,'' she said, unfazed by the prospect of meeting world number one Martina Hingis in Sunday'S final. ``I think I can do that. That'd be nice as a comeback.''