Simona Halep, Venus Williams, and Martina Hingis to play an exhibition tournament in South Africa in December 2021
Grand Slam champions Simona Halep, Venus Williams, and Martina Hingis are the first names to be announced for the Africa Cares Women's Tennis Challenge, an exhibition tournament to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa from 18--19 December 2021. Rising South African player Khololwam Montsi is also set to feature in the mixed doubles section of the event.
The tournament aims to promote tennis in the country along with raising awareness of gender-based violence.
Tennis fanatics have received an early Christmas present. Legendary WTA tennis stars Venus Williams and Martina Hingis are heading for South Africa. The pair will compete in the Africa Cares Tennis tournament in Johannesburg next month. #DStv403 https://t.co/72IdqJBLpV
While Halep and Williams are still competing on tour, Hingis came out of retirement in 2013 to compete exclusively in doubles and officially bid farewell to the sport in 2017, while ranked no. 1.
Halep's 2021 season has been hampered by injuries. She had to miss Roland Garros and Wimbledon due to a calf injury. Her comeback has been quite decent. She reached the final of the Translyvania Open, though in her final event of the year-- the Linz Open--she had to retire in the semifinals.
Venus Williams has also struggled with form and injuries this year. She often lost in the early rounds and ended her season prior to the start of the US Open. She is currently ranked outside the top 300.
Venus Williams dazzles at the King Richard premiere
While it's been a tough year professionally, Venus Williams has been thriving off the court. Along with younger sister Serena, the seven-time Grand Slam champion is currently busy promoting King Richard, a biopic about their father. The film stars Will Smith in the titular role.
At the premiere of the film, Venus said that her father's story is finally being told in the right way. This is a story about how her family succeeded against all odds and she's so proud of how the movie has portrayed it all.
"It's beautiful, I never was planning this moment and then here it is, it happens, and then the way the story is told, is also probably the best way it could be told. There's never a moment where we went 'spoiler alert' in this film, when we won the US Open or the gold medal or anything that has happened. This is a origin story and how a family actually succeeded. So that's the story of it all and I'm so proud that it's being told this way cause it's the right way."