TORONTO – There used to be a time when Venus Williams would finish off opponents in under 90 minutes.
Those days are far behind her.
Now the former seven-time Grand Slam singles champion is on the receiving end of those kind of straight-set sweeps after she fell to Uzbekistan’s Kamilla Rakhimova 6-4, 6-1 Sunday in the first round of the National Bank Open presented by Rogers women’s tournament in Toronto.
It only took Rakhimova, 24, an hour and 27 minutes to dispose of Williams, who at 46-years-old was showing her age as Rakhimova stuck with a game plan to try to make Williams move as much as possible around the court and trust that the American tennis icon no longer has the athleticism to keep up.
As it turns out, Williams couldn’t, appearing visibly frustrated at times at her inability to get to balls even 10 years ago she’d have no issues with, something that seemed to effect her mentally as she made a number of unforced errors, including six double faults at the service line.
For what it’s worth, Williams was upbeat after the match.
“I was just fighting to put the ball in the court and I had some chances to go out there, so that was really fun,” she told a pool reporter after Sunday’s defeat, electing not to speak to reporters.
The positive attitude Williams exhibited in the loss echoed some of what she spoke about Saturday in her pre-match press conference.
“I come at it the same way, the same amount of work, same focus, same drive,” Williams told reporters when asked about her relationship with tennis at this stage in her career. “I'm still learning lessons throughout my career, and now, too. So, yeah, it's about finding joy in the process.”
Even in a straight-sets beatdown where it seemed like Williams didn’t like where she was physically, she was able to find joy.
“Just determination and just fighting,” Williams said of what she saw from herself in Sunday’s match. “It was really fun to be back after having not been here for a while.”
Sunday was Williams’ first match in Toronto since she fell to Jil Teichmann in 2022.
Rain delayed the expected start to the day’s matches in Toronto on Sunday. Williams was expected to hit centre court at some time around 12:30 p.m., but didn’t do so until 2 p.m.
The poor weather didn’t put a damper on the crowd’s enthusiasm for Williams as fans did their best to encourage her and gave her a standing ovation when it all concluded. It can be tough to watch a once-great athlete hold on for too long, but Williams appears to genuinely still have love for the game and will continue to put her best foot forward because of that.
And though much younger – only 26 – there’s a similarity in mentality between Williams and Bianca Andreescu.
The Mississauga, Ont., native has battled injury through the vast majority of her career and has seen much of what looked like a brilliant path to stardom dimmed by her own body betraying her time and again.
The one moment when she appeared to be fulfilling her immense potential came in 2019, when she first won the then-named Rogers Cup in Toronto, leading to her victory at Flushing Meadows to capture the 2019 US Open.
Ever since then, however, it’s been a roller-coaster ride of various ailments leading to the former No. 4-ranked player in the world now being ranked 174th and fighting for opportunities to compete in WTA events.
On Sunday evening, Andreescu is scheduled to return to the home court where she got her first taste of glory seven years ago as she takes on the No. 41-ranked Nikola Bartunkova of Czechia.
Like Williams, Andreescu could reasonably stop playing, but she has a drive that keeps her going and wanting to come back to tennis, no matter how cruel the sport has been to her.
“What I did find that helps me the most is not staying stuck in, ‘How do I become that person or player again,’” Andreescu told reporters Saturday when asked about potentially thinking back on things back in 2019. “It's more about, ‘How can I use that to learn from,’ and then, ‘Who am I now in 2026.’
“A lot has happened since then… it was my first full year on tour, I had nothing else to think about. So, now it's just trying to recreate, obviously, the result, but who I am as a person a different way. I do feel like I have that same joy, which, I think to me, has been the biggest struggle over the years. Now, with the amazing team that I have, they have really helped me enjoy the process a little bit more, and hopefully that gets me the win.”
Andreescu added on Saturday that she’s feeling “super healthy.” Something that’s has to feel good after all the time she’s spent rehabbing.
Results in competitive tennis certainly matter, but sometimes just having the will and happiness to continue playing despite circumstances – whether they be age or terrible injury luck – is something.
Even if those best days are behind an athlete, the desire to keep on going is a worthy one.
