Venus Williams said she was ‘killed by the grass’ after a worrying slip in her Wimbledon exit against Elina Svitolina

Venus Williams says she was “killed by the grass” following her first round exit at Wimbledon.

She was beaten 6-4 6-3 by Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina.

Williams – who is a five-time Wimbledon champion – was handed a wild card to compete in this year’s competition.

However, the Centre Court turf did not give her a champions welcome as she worryingly slipped and fell in the opening stages.

With the match less than three games old, Williams approached the net to volley and as she played the shot, she lost her footing and fell to the ground with a shriek.

She returned to play but ultimately, was beaten.

Speaking about her fall, Williams said: “Grass is inherently going to be slippery. You’re going to fall at some point. It was just bad luck for me. I started the match perfectly. I was literally killing it, then I got killed by the grass.”

“It’s not fun right now. I felt like I was in great form coming into this tournament, and great form in the match.”

“It’s all very shocking at the moment. This is sports. I’m hitting the ball well. Hopefully I can just figure out what’s happening with me and move forward”, she said.

“I think what makes this one hard to process is I’ve had so many injuries. I’ve been missing from tour for quite a while. This is not what I want for myself.”

Williams was most frustrated by the nature of her fall being out of her control.

“This kind of fall, I didn’t do anything wrong. I just went for the ball. There’s nothing I can really do about it. Those kinds of things are hard to process emotionally, mentally and physically on the court”, she said.

“I just couldn’t figure it out today. It was just real challenging. I’ve played through a lot of injuries and won a lot of matches injured.”

“It’s almost a specialty of mine. I just couldn’t figure it out today.”

It remains to be seen whether, at the age of 43, that was Williams’ last appearance at a tournament which has given her so much in her stellar career.

Sooner than thinking about another Wimbledon appearance, though, is the thought of taking to the court in her home Grand Slam at the US Open.

With the tournament just months away, Williams would not be drawn on whether or not she will be there.

“I’ve got to figure out my next plan. Right now I’m kind of in shock. I just can’t believe this happened. It’s, like, bizarre. I don’t know. I’m still processing it at the moment.”

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