WIMBLEDON, England - The subject of retirement from tennis persistently follows Venus Williams wherever she goes and whenever she plays. At 34, without a title in a Grand Slam event since 2008 and with just one third-round appearance at a major since 2012, who can resist the temptation of asking?
Her second-round Wimbledon match Wednesday with Kurumi Nara of Japan produced one of those early Venus-in-trouble alerts, as she dropped the first three games. Was it one of those days when Sjogren's syndrome, the chronic condition that can sap her energy, would get the best of her? Would it finally be time for her to acknowledge that, in addition to illness, age had gotten the best of her?
The normally private Williams, who bared almost all while posing recently for ESPN the Magazine's body issue, swatted away the suggestion like the most routine volley.
'I've worn my sunscreen, so I haven't aged terribly,' she said. 'My knees are very tight, not saggy. And the crow's-feet have been kept at bay.'
In the end Wednesday, it was her 22-year-old opponent, Nara, who wound up the one in need of medical attention on the way to Williams's 7-6 (4), 6-1 victory. On to the third round went Williams, a five-time champion here, in a seemingly quixotic pursuit of recapturing what now feels like her distant past.
To underscore the point, Nara had this to say about her 1-hour-31-minute meeting with the older of the famed American Williams sisters.
'It's very special for me because I saw the Venus like when I was a child,' she said.
English not being her first language, it might have been an affection of speech, but it nonetheless made the mention of Williams sound almost sacred, a treasure of the sport who said she remained determined to hang around until the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil for another shot at doubles gold.
With her one singles and three double gold medals to go with her seven Grand Slam titles, along with her well-earned reputation for advocating gender equity, Williams has pretty much done and seen it all. Competitively, she will never be the credentialed equal of her sister Serena, who has won 17 Grand Slam titles, including nine since Venus last raised the champion's trophy, which, coincidentally, is called the Venus Rosewater Dish.
So why continue? What keeps her going?
'Well, I don't like watching it on TV,' she said, during one of her more playful interviews. 'I want to be out there. I'm not about the easy thing. Life is a challenge.'
She added: 'For me, when I leave tennis, I want it to be on my own terms. I want to know that I rose to every challenge. I want to look back with no regrets.'
Seeded No. 31 here, Williams can point to some encouraging results this year, beyond poor showings at the Slams. She reached the final of a pre-Australian Open tournament in Auckland and won the title in Dubai. In Wednesday's match, she rallied from the 3-0 deficit and a 4-1 hole in the tiebreaker.
'Definitely, for me, it's a step in the right direction,' she said, insisting that far from leaving the sport, or even reducing her workload, she needed to concentrate on going deeper into tournaments, becoming match tougher.
She spoke fondly of Wimbledon, as her game always seemed best suited to the grass, appreciating it as the tournament that responded to her advocacy for equal prize money for women, for recognizing the need 'to be progressive, getting with the future.'
That said, she was back at the figurative net, tall and rangy, ready to swat another verbal volley when the next leading question was asked.
If she had one tennis wish, would it be to win another Wimbledon or a third United States Open before the career really comes to a close?
'Yeah, wishes don't come true,' she said. 'You have to work at it. I won't start wishing. I'll start working, running, hitting some winners. That will serve me more.'
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