It was going to be a massive affair at the Citi Open. The tournament marked the comeback of Venus Williams, who was playing her first match after more than a year. She was last seen in action at the Miami Open last year, which ended with a first-round loss. However, this time around, Williams showed why she is a tennis legend, making a winning comeback at the age of 45. Meanwhile, her comeback was good news for former WTA star Andrea Petkovic, as well.

After her playing career, Petkovic took to commentary and used her tennis experience to give valuable opinions about the sport. However, owing to her German roots. Petkovic found difficulty in pronouncing Williams’ name. Petkovic, who was on the mic at the Citi Open as well, didn’t mistake this time around and took the American legend’s name perfectly. During The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, she opened up about this subject.

Petkovic said, “And also I want to say I’m very proud of myself for not butchering her name a single time because as you know Rennae, my friend, for Germans, saying a V and then a W is really hard. So Venus Williams is really hard to say. For me, the same like West Village because we don’t have these type of sounds in German. So I had to focus so hard to say Venus Williams correctly and props to me in that regard for not butchering her name a single time.”

Subsequently, Stubbs replied by saying, “Well, the thing that I always tell you is pretend the V is a W and the W is a V.” Petkovic agreed and said, “Yeah, that’s how I should. Yes, exactly.”

Although Williams found much joy at the Citi Open, her campaign came to a disappointing end. She went down fighting against Magdalena Frech and apologized to her fans for the grim defeat.

Venus Williams hopes to come back stronger

The American legend won her comeback match against her compatriot, Peyton Stearns. With hopes getting high for her to dig deep in the tournament, Williams had a premature exit after a defeat to Frech. Even she was dejected with her performance and had a message for her fans after her loss.

Williams stated, “I’m sorry to have (fallen) short, but I know I can play better. And I know I will play better. There’s so many learnings from here. I know exactly what I need to work on, where I can improve. The good news is I’m always in control of the point. The important part is to put the ball in. So this is one thing I didn’t do today. Was I in control? Absolutely. Will I be in control of most of my matches? Most likely, yes. That’s the place I want to be, so I’m putting myself in that position. That’s what counts.”

After her stint at the Citi Open, Williams will be seen in action at the Cincinnati Open, ahead of the US Open. Although she is yet to announce her retirement, speculation is rife that it could be her last year on the tour.