Venus Williams recently joked about her missing luggage saga after pulling off a stunning upset over 16th seed Veronika Kudermetova in the first round of the 2023 Cincinnati Open.
Williams, who received a wild card for the tournament, had to cope with losing her luggage during her campaign at the 2023 Canadian Open. The 43-year-old spent days calling the airline and trying to get back her bags, which contained her clothes and equipment.
Despite all the obstacles, Williams showed her resilience and determination by coming back from 2-5 down to beat Kudermetova 6-4, 7-5. It was her first win over a top-20 player since 2019, and it improved her match record this year to 3-5.
In a post-match press conference, Williams revealed how she handled the stressful situation and joked about her luggage ordeal.
“I finally did. I called every hour, like, I’d get off the phone and then I’d call right back and speak to another agent. I’m relentless. I needed my bags, and it was days of calling (smiling). But I have my clothes now. I’m grateful,” she said.
Williams also revealed how she missed out on the preparations for the match with everything that was going on.
“The day I played my match was the craziest day ever in terms of preparation. Like, there was none. I was running to buy clothes, and, you know, just all over the place. It was nuts,” she added.
“I think I’m at a better level than I started the year” – Venus Williams
During the same press conference, Venus Williams said that she felt her level was higher than at the beginning of the year and that she was happy to play matches again after recovering from her injury.
“Yeah, I think I’m at a better level than I started the year, to be honest. I was actually worried about the rain delay, because I’m very traumatized by Auckland and all those rain delays and getting injured after that. I’m, like, ‘Oh, my God, I can’t let that happen again to me,'” she said.
Williams also revealed how her game improved this season after all the injuries and absence from the tour for the longest time.
“I think my level is actually higher. My serve is better. Second serve was better. It’s really about playing matches. You cannot replicate it. Especially after you take a large amount of time off. So that’s really where I am right now. I’m fine game-wise, but playing matches is a different ball game,” she added.
Venus Williams will face the winner of Qinwen Zheng and Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the second round of the Cincinnati Open.
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