"I didn't retire. I needed to heal myself physically and mentally, I had no plans, it's just that I didn't know when I was going to come back and in what state I would be. would come back," said the 40-year-old 23-time Grand Slam player.
She hasn't played singles since retiring in the first round of the Grass Major last year against Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich and explained that she didn't want her story to end that way at Wimbledon where, since her first appearance in 1998, she won seven times.
"It was a great source of motivation. I've always had that in mind since the end of this match," she said.
"Wimbledon was not easy last year. I felt like I was injured most of the year. Then I injured my thigh. I tried hard to play in New York, I gave everything I had, every day, to be ready or at least to try to be. But I ended up realizing that I couldn't. So I put away my snowshoes while I looked after myself," she said.
The player was able to train on Center Court at Wimbledon, which she had left in tears last year following a slip, because contrary to tradition, the organizers authorized training on the short to make the turf less slippery for the first laps.
"I was really happy to have this opportunity to play there (before the start of the competition) and it was good psychologically because my last moments on the Center Court had not been the best...", she pointed out.
She also explained that she had decided in May before Roland-Garros to return to Wimbledon.
For this, she played the Eastbourne tournament in doubles with Ons Jabeur (3rd in the world in singles).
"I probably could have played it in singles. I felt more ready than I would have thought one, or two, or three months ago," she said.
Falling down to 1,204th place in the world, Serena Williams, who still dreams of winning a 24th Grand Slam title to equal Margaret Court's absolute record, received a wild card to play Wimbledon.
She will be opposed in the first round to the Frenchwoman Hamony Tan (113th).
© 2022 AFP