VENUS Williams plans to spend the twilight of her career focusing on Olympic glory, saying she hopes to squeeze in a “few more” Summer Games before her retirement.
The former world number one was a relieved woman on Wednesday (June 22) after squeezing into the third round at Wimbledon with a hard-fought three-set win over 40-year-old Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm.
Williams, 31, would not say if she thought she’d still be playing in nine years time, but revealed she was mapping her future commitments around the 2012 London Olympics, with the tennis being held at Wimbledon.
“I’m not sure what lies in the future for me,” Williams said. “I tend to base all my goals around the Olympics nowadays, it seems. I hope to have a few more Olympics left in me.
Williams is the most successful female tennis player in Olympic history, winning more gold medals – three – than any other female player.
In 2000 she became only the second player after the legendary Helen Wills Moody in 1924 to win both singles and doubles gold at the same games.
While Williams remains a firm fan of the Olympics, the American was coy about which other sport she was keen to watch at next year’s London Games.
“Each event is so special because it’s the Olympics,” Williams said.
“Probably maybe like USA basketball, women’s basketball, something like that.”
The five-time Wimbledon champion is seeded 23 in Wimbledon after a year which has been disrupted by a lengthy injury lay-off following the Australian Open in January, where she lost in the early rounds.
Williams said her long absence had stoked her competitive fires.
