Watch: Venus Williams makes surprise appearance at University of Washington
Venus Williams made a surprise appearance at the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle.
Williams could be seen on the practice courts of UW with UW assistant tennis coach Mitch Stewart.
Here's a video of Williams playing tennis at UW with Stewart and a small crowd gathering to watch her in action:
No idea why, but Venus Williams is currently playing tennis at UW. A small crowd has gathered to watch. https://t.co/cifyEX4hWo
Williams is in Seattle to speak at the Amazon Accelerate Seller Conference this week. Her impromptu 'exhibition match' at UW’s outdoor tennis courts on Tuesday afternoon with Husky assistant coach and former four-time All-Pac-12 performer Stewart was watched by a crowd of roughly 100.
Williams, 42, is coming off a first-round exit in both singles and doubles at the US Open. She lost to Alison Van Uytvanck in singles action, while in doubles, Venus teamed up with her now-retired sister Serena but lost to Linda Noskova and Lucie Hradecka.
Currently ranked outside the top 1000 of the WTA singles rankings, Venus has lost all four of her matches this year, taking just one set (Rebecca Marino at the Citi Open).
What's next for Venus Williams?
Venus Williams is now a pale shadow of the player who has won Major matches in her teens, 20s, 30s and 40s and made 16 Grand Slam singles finals - winning seven.
The 42-year-old suffered a season-ending injury in Chicago last year and was out of action for almost a year. She returned to action in mixed doubles at Wimbledon, where she reached the second round with Jamie Murray - lost to Alicia Barnett and Jonny O'Mara.
She returned to singles action at the Citi Open but fell to Rebecca Marino of Canada in three sets. Williams then endured three more first-round exits - at the Canadian Open, Cincinnati and the US Open. Her bid for a 15th women's doubles title at the US Open with her sister Serena ended in the first round in straight sets.
Serena and Venus Williams at the US Open
1997 vs. 2022 https://t.co/XjoXBSIoNw
Williams' next stop is currently unknown. It remains to be seen whether the 42-year-old will follow in Serena's footsteps and call time on her illustrious career - which has been meandering for quite a while.
The 42-year-old has gone 9-13 in Majors since making the 2017 US Open semifinals. She has won just two singles matches in Grand Slams (Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2021) in the last three years. Her 91st main draw appearance at the US Open this year ended in defeat.