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While she’s out of women’s singles, she’ll still be playing in the doubles.

At the 2022 US Open, veteran tennis player Venus Williams had entered into the women’s singles running alongside her sister, Serena Williams. Venus has not played as many games this year compared to years past, with this week’s match only being the fourth for 2022. Unfortunately, it seems that will be her only singles match for the US Open this year.

Williams was knocked out of the women’s singles division in the first round by Belgian player Alison Van Uytvanck. While this loss was disappointing for her, Williams conceded that she still hadn’t quite gotten back into the groove after her long period of inactivity, and it hampered her.

“It was definitely the longest time I have been away from tennis and been without a racquet in my hand,” Williams said. “So it was a completely new experience for me, getting a racquet back in my hand and trying to acclimate as quick as possible to be ready for the US Open, which was not easy.

“Definitely, like, playing lots of great points but it’s just, in the end, it’s just rust. There is nothing you can do about that except for, you know, not be rusty at some point.”

The power of Venus Williams 😤 @usopen | #USOpen pic.twitter.com/xUEtJgWvWx

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 30, 2022

While she’s out of the women’s singles division, Williams isn’t finished with the US Open just yet. She and her sister Serena will be competing as a duo in the doubles division this week, playing together for the first time since 2018. Williams isn’t sure whether she’ll continue with tennis for much longer after this tournament, but is content to follow Serena’s lead for the time being.

“Right now I’m just focused on the doubles,” she said, noting that the team-up was Serena’s idea. “She’s the boss, so I do whatever she tells me to do.”