Venus Williams believes her sister Serena will be ready to compete in Rome and the French Open, the American told reporters in Madrid on Friday.
Serena, who returned to the tour from maternity leave in March by making the Indian Wells third round and losing her opener in Miami, has been training for the clay season at her coach Patrick Mouratoglou’s academy in the south of France but withdrew from this week’s Madrid Open, throwing her Roland Garros participation in doubt.
But Venus says Serena is on track to make a return to action, for the first time since Miami, in Rome next week.
“I think she’s looking forward to hopefully playing in Rome… I don’t know. I don’t think there’s any reason why she can’t continue and hopefully be able to play Rome and the French Open,” Venus said at the Caja Magica ahead of her Madrid opening round against Anett Kontaveit.
Venus will be playing her first match since her quarter-final exit in Miami in March and is appearing in Madrid for the first time since 2015.
The 37-year-old is seeded No. 8 in the draw and plays Kontaveit on Saturday.
“I want to do well. I haven’t played in a month, more. So I just have to see how it goes and try to learn every match,” said Venus, who was runner-up at the Caja Magica in 2010.
She is hoping to get over any rustiness quickly in order to go far in the tournament.
“I hope pretty fast. Sometimes you have bad luck and somebody plays too well and you’re not at your best but for the most part you hope that you have some chances to get into the match and get into the tournament,” she added.
“I found the courts here to be completely different than when I came here last a few years ago for the better actually, different for the better. They actually look and feel like French Open courts in a lot of ways whereas before it felt more like Har-Tru.”
