Remember the last time Venus Williams graced the pro tour stage? It ended with a first-round exit at the 2024 Miami Open against Diana Shnaider, her final match before silence and speculation took over. Retirement rumors came and went, especially as she took on commentary duties at Roland Garros. But why was her name missing from the US Open spotlight she once ruled? Now we know. After a grueling 30-year health struggle, Venus Williams has finally shared the reason for her absence from the US Open, a battle that almost silenced the tennis champion.

Venus Williams is making her thunderous return to tour-level tennis at the Mubadala Citi DC Open, stepping into the spotlight after more than a year away. The 45-year-old trailblazer has accepted a wildcard into the WTA 500 event, marking her first main-draw singles match since 2023. While a title run may not be on the cards, the buzz around her comeback is electric. Fans are hungry to see the legend move, strike, and rise again, especially knowing she’s battled Sjögren’s syndrome since 2011 and still refuses to surrender.

But just as excitement builds, Venus added a powerful new layer to her return. She revealed that her long absence wasn’t just about rest, it was sparked by a terrifying health crisis that derailed her plans last year. 

At the pre-tournament press conference at the DC Citi Open, Venus Williams was asked the inevitable: did she ever seriously think about retiring? She didn’t utter the word “retirement,” but the weight of her response said it all. She spoke openly about the severity of her health crisis last year, revealing just how far from tennis her mind had drifted. “My health journey was very scary, you know. This time a year ago, I was preparing to go to surgery, you know, and it was… there was no way for me to play tennis or play the US Open or those things weren’t even on my mind,” she admitted.

Venus peeled back the curtain on what followed: grit, patience, and pure will. “I was just trying to get healthy. And then after that, I just took that time to I wanted to to try to play sooner, but I couldn’t. So, in any case, here I am. But things really change in a year. They really do.”

Well, during this year’s Wimbledon, Venus Williams made a deeply emotional and heartbreaking revelation, one that cast a long shadow over her absence from the 2025 Championships. In a raw and powerful interview with NBC News Daily on July 3, the 45-year-old icon opened up about a decades-long battle with fibroids and adenomyosis, conditions that tormented her with extreme pain, relentless vomiting, and uncontrollable bleeding for nearly 30 years. A silent battle, fought in shadows, while the world only saw her strength.

“My symptoms were extreme pain. You know, getting so much in pain that maybe you throw up. Or you can’t get off the ground,” Venus revealed. The seven-time Grand Slam champion reflected on the earliest days of her suffering, even recalling the torment she endured at just 16 years old during the French Open, “just hugging the toilet bowl” before a second-round match. For most, that would’ve been a signal to stop. For Venus, it became a lifelong battle cry.

Adenomyosis, a lesser-known but equally brutal condition where uterine tissue grows into the uterus wall, only deepened her suffering. Despite access to top-tier medical professionals throughout her career, Venus’s pain was dismissed again and again. 

“As bad as things were for me, crazy amounts of bleeding like you couldn’t imagine, my doctors told me it was normal,” she said, her words laced with frustration and heartbreak. One doctor even dismissed her agony at 37 as a natural part of aging, while another cruelly joked it was “natural birth control.”

The dismissals kept coming, and many urged her toward hysterectomy as the only solution. “I’ve never been so sad in my life,” she confessed. “I had never been running to have kids but I always wanted to have a choice and to have that taken away is just frightening.” That loss of agency stung more than any defeat on court. Though doctors tracked her fibroids, they failed to disclose critical details about their size or progression.

It wasn’t until 2024 that light finally broke through. A single social media ad changed everything: “You don’t have to live like this.” Venus dove into research and soon discovered Dr. Taraneh Shirazian at NYU Langone Health Center for Fibroid Care. 

For the first time, she received a full diagnosis. “I was the first person to ever tell her [of the adenomyosis],” Dr. Shirazian shared with SELF magazine. In July 2024, Venus underwent a successful myomectomy that removed her fibroids and preserved her uterus. Within days, she felt like herself again; within 30, she was reborn.

“I went through a lot, and you would imagine that I would have access to the best health care, and I did. But I still didn’t have the best health care [until I went to NYU],” she admitted. Her voice, once dulled by pain, now rings with a renewed fire.

And though her struggle forced her to sit out last year’s US Open, Venus is back now, eyes sharp, heart full, and chasing another shot at greatness. With her return gaining momentum, she also weighed in on the buzz surrounding her sister, yes, Serena Williams’ US Open sparks have ignited talk of a possible comeback. And Venus? She’s right there in the hunt, refusing to be counted out.

Venus Williams’ return fuels buzz on Serena comeback

In a jaw-dropping twist that lit the tennis world ablaze, Serena Williams shattered the silence with a thunderous return, this time, not in words, but in motion. Just days ago, she stunned the internet with an electrifying IG video. There she was, back on court. With “Still D.R.E.” echoing in the background, she delivered her message with steel-edged clarity: “Still Serena.” 

The clip detonated across social media, igniting a frenzy among fans and analysts alike. While the tennis world was still reeling from the post, Venus Williams made headlines of her own at the DC Open. Suddenly, the buzz around a possible Williams sisters’ reunion wasn’t just hopeful, it felt real.

During a recent interview, Venus was hit with the billion-dollar question: could Serena be plotting a comeback? Her answer didn’t stir drama; it stirred emotion. “I don’t ask those questions. I don’t ask her that,” she said. Then came a raw, poignant truth that unveiled the depth of their sisterhood. “I’m her biggest fan. I never wanted her to retire. I knew she was retiring, and it took me time to come to terms with it. I was like, Why? I understood why.”

Venus also shared the behind-the-scenes moment that ignited Serena’s viral return. A simple, unscripted hitting session turned into something symbolic. “But in any case, I think she came out there because actually I was actually hitting too. So she comes out and she hit, and then you know I had the hitters there and we were leaving and I was like, ‘You want to hit some more?’ They can say I’m done. So she hit like 15 or 20 minutes, and she could take six months off, and she clocks it clean.”

Now, the spotlight shifts. Venus is set to make her official return today, stepping onto the court after 16 months. She’ll join forces with Hailey Baptiste in a doubles clash against Eugenie Bouchard and Clervie Ngounoue. And tomorrow? The queen hunts solo in singles. The Williams fire isn’t fading: it’s reigniting.