Tennis legend Venus Williams has been attempting to make a triumphant comeback to the sport since 2025, but it so far hasn’t gone exactly as she expected. Williams seemingly chose to make a premature exit from a the French Open on Thursday without giving an explanation, but there’s a glaring reason why the 45-year-old may have removed herself from the competition.Williams was scheduled to play in doubles competition at Roland-Garros with partner Hailey Baptiste. However, Baptiste suffered an apparent left leg injury in second-round singles play the day before, forcing her to withdraw from her match against Wang Xiyu.
Even though the French Open’s organizers didn’t cite the injury as the reason the pair won’t be competing, it’s clear that Baptiste was unable to play alongside Williams. It was later confirmed that Baptiste’s ACL and meniscus were the issue, and she now requires surgery that will keep her off the tennis court for at least six months. The duo was ultimately replaced by Eudice Chong and Veronika Rejvec.
Williams is no stranger to competing in doubles at the highest level, as she and star sister Serena have won together at Roland-Garros in both 1999 and 2010. Williams also reached the French Open final once in 2002, but she ended up losing the title to her younger sister.The seven-time Grand Slam champion won five of her career singles titles at Wimbledon, while she claimed the other two at the US Open. Things have not gone as smoothly since making her return to tennis, though. Williams possesses an 0-7 singles record in 2026, last competing at the Madrid Open.
Williams was a wild-card entry at the Australian Open earlier this year, setting a new benchmark as the oldest woman to compete in the event’s singles main draw despite losing in the first round. Even with fortune not working in her favor so far, Williams has not given any sign that she’s ready to hang up her racket for good just yet.
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