"Venus Williams will not be a pushover at Wimbledon" - Serena Williams' former coach

Serena Williams' former coach Rennae Stubbs has weighed in on Venus Williams' chances at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships.

Venus had been out with a hamstring injury since January 2023. She made a comeback last week at the Libema Open, only to have her run cut short by 17-year-old Celine Naef, who was making her tour debut.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion then returned to compete in the ongoing Birmingham Classic. She defeated Camila Giorgi in a three-set thriller to advance to the second round and set up a clash with Jelena Ostapenko.

However, the American, who faced Ostapenko with strapping around her right knee, was defeated by the Latvian. She didn't go down without a fight, though, with the match ending 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 in Ostapenko's favor.

Following that, Rennae Stubbs appeared on "Sports Talk Prime" and commented on the match. She believes it was an excellent match, adding that Venus Williams would have been out of the match in the second set if it hadn't been for her strong will to compete.

"The great, wonderful, Venus Williams, unfortunately ended up losing her match today in an absolute, of course, battle. Just an epic match against Jelena Ostapenko. It was a terrific match," Stubbs said.

"Unfortunately, as I said, Venus went down 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. In the second set actually, Venus really should have been out of there. Ostapenko was up a set in 5-3, had a match point on Venus' serve at 5-3. Venus, of course, hung on there in that game. Then she broke serve."

Rennae Stubbs then discussed how Jelena Ostapenko was nervous in the second set. She believes it was difficult for Ostapenko to close out the match because she grew up idolizing Serena Williams and had never beaten the elder Williams sister.

"I think Ostapenko admitted after the match that she got a little bit nervous. Obviously had never beaten Venus before and Serena Williams was her idol growing up. So imagine how hard this was to close out for Ostapenko," she said.

The veteran coach then weighed in on Venus Williams' chances at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships, where she has received a wild card. Stubbs predicted that the American would not be a pushover at the grass court Major and hopes she gets enough practice in beforehand.

"Venus Williams will not be a pushover at Wimbledon. Of course, she has held that Venue Rosewater beautiful trophy, over her head five times at Wimbledon," Stubbs said.

"So, let's hope that Venus has got enough tennis under her belt to be able to feel pretty confident going into the next couple of weeks on grass. But what an effort."

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"Hopefully, Venus Williams can get this knee sorted out, that's been an issue" - Rennae Stubbs

Venus Williams pictured with a knee strap at the Rothesay Classic Birmingham.

Venus Williams faced apparent problems with her knee in her match with Jelena Ostapenko. She had her joint strapped up once again and took a lengthy medical break during the second set to receive treatment on her right thigh.

Rennae Stubbs addressed Williams' knee issue in her interview, saying she hopes he gets it fixed as soon as possible. She said:

"But, I have to say, hopefully Venus can get this knee sorted out. That's been an issue for her in this tournament. She was really struggling with a lot of her movements out there."

She added:

"But considering, she is 43 years of age, she played a three plus hour match the other day, has a knee issue, went 6-3 in the third with one of the best players in the world, just shows you, look out."