⁍ Venus Williams loses 6-4 6-4 to Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.

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⁍ American veteran says she will not play again this year.

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⁍ Williams says she ‘definitely’ will be back next year.

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– For the third year in a row, Venus Williams has gone out in the first round of the French Open. This time, the 40-year-old lost to Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday, reports Reuters. “I’m going home from here. I’m done. If there is somewhere to play, I won’t be there,” said Williams, who has now lost her last three first-round matches at Roland Garros. Asked if she would be back next year, she said she “definitely” would be although she said a 2020 hit by the COVID-19 pandemic had been a tough one. “It’s been a very long year of quarantine,” she said. “Now I’ll get to rest. So I’m looking forward to that.’ Schmiedlova, who ended a run of 12 successive first-round defeats at Grand Slams, said she hoped Williams would be back competing in 2021. “I still hope that this won’t be the end for her, I respect her a lot. She’s had an incredible career and is still playing really good,’ she said. “But there are so many good young players now in women’s tennis and you can lose to the one ranked 300 or 100 and it’s getting more difficult. She already has made an amazing career and I hope that it won’t be her last match.”