Venus Williams poses with Alycia Parks ahead of Birmingham Classic

Venus Williams has been an inspiration to an entire generation of young women players and recently posed for a picture with one of them, Alycia Parks.

Williams and Parks are set to compete at the 2023 Birmingham Classic and hit the practice court together before the main action begins. After a hitting session, Williams and Parks, a rising star in American tennis, clicked a photograph together.

Many young American players, including Coco Gauff, have called Venus Williams, their idol and inspiration to pick up the racket. The 43-year-old is still competing at the highest level and entered her 30th year on the WTA tour in 2023.

She began her 2023 campaign at the ASB Classic in Auckland in January and won her opening-round match against fellow American Katie Volynets. However, injuries hampered her progress and kept her on the sidelines for the next five months. She made her comeback at the Libema Open in the Netherlands last week but lost in the first round to young Swiss player Celine Naef.

Williams, who has entered next week's Birmingham Classic main draw via a wildcard, will play Italy's Camila Giorgi in the first round.

Meanwhile, Alycia Parks, 22, won her first title on the WTA tour at the 2023 Lyon Open in February, defeating Caroline Garcia in the final. She burst onto the scene after an impressive quarterfinal run at the 2022 Ostrava Open, where she bested Maria Sakkari and Karolina Pliskova before losing to eventual champion Barbora Krejcikova.

Parks, the World No. 43, will be up against Ukraine's Anhelina Kalinina in the first round of the Birmingham Classic.

Venus Williams stays positive after Libema Open performance

Venus Williams training ahead of the Birmingham Open

Despite losing to Celine Naef 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2 in the opening round of the Libema Open last week, Venus Williams said that she has a lot of positives to take to her next tournament.

Williams took to Instagram to share that she managed to stay injury free after playing a laborious three-set match and was pleased with her performance. The seven-time Grand Slam champion added that she is getting used to playing top players after an injury hiatus and will be back stronger in her next match.

"Being on the court yesterday was thrilling! Just as exciting my family all came to cheer me on. Also I know I have all the support of my fans which means the world to me. I’m really happy with how I played and I am just getting used to playing matches again which is to be expected," she wrote on Instagram.

"The best news is I walked off the court yesterday not hurt and not even sore after a long match and a string of really challenging injuries which means I have a chance to build on yesterdays performance in my next events," Williams said.

Staying injury-free will be crucial for Williams at Birmingham, too, if she hopes to play in the 2023 Wimbledon Championships, which starts on Monday, July 3.