Venus sees positives in Paris exit

 

Originally published on: 27/05/13 00:00

A lower back problem hampered the No.30 seed as she was beaten 7-6(5) 6-7(4) 6-4 by Urszula Radwanska in Paris.

Williams, who was broken 11 times from 17 service games, had only played two matches in the six weeks after struggling with the injury, preparation she described as “extremely unideal”.

“I can’t really serve very hard. It’s painful when I do that,” Williams said. “But I’m getting better. I just, you know, ran out of time to get better for this tournament.

“My strategy was more or less to put the ball in, and that’s very difficult for me, too, because that’s not who I am. But that’s all I had.”

The 32-year-old, who was diagnosed with Sjogren’s Syndrome in 2011, admits she is struggling to live with the auto-immune disease.

“With what I’ve gone through, it’s not easy,” she admitted. “But I’m strong and I’m a fighter. You know, I don’t think I’m just playing for me now. I think I’m playing for a lot of people who haven’t felt well.

“I think for me it’s a positive to be able to play three hours. I’m constantly finding ways to get better and to feel better.”

Now get the WORLD’S BEST TENNIS MAGAZINE here