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Venus on Playing at 37: "I'm Doing Exactly What I'm Supposed to Be Doing"

A reporter came at her with a question about how she's "not supposed to be here at 37." Venus Williams didn't take kindly to that.
Susan Mullane—USA TODAY Sports

Venus Williams is one of the all-time greats—hands-down, no questions. In the race for most titles for an active player right now, she's second only to her younger sister Serena. But for some reason, people still seem hell-bent on taking Venus down a peg—even if it's through some backhanded compliments.

After losing today's Wimbledon final to Garbiñe Muguruza 6-0 7-5, Venus was understandably a bit downtrodden at the mic, fielding questions when some bozo decided to talk about her limitations before trying to reverse course and use it as a compliment:

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"At this age, 37, you're not supposed to be doing what you're doing right now. Can you talk about what you think you have in yourself, ability-wise, and also emotionally that allows you to play so well—to make it to a final of a Grand Slam event like this?"

Venus took just a couple of beats to let that question from the reporter—who was (shockingly!) a man—sink into his own noggin before coming back with a pretty sweet shutdown:

"I believe that those are not my thoughts or words—that I'm 'not supposed to be doing' this. I'm doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing right now."

So Venus, who currently sits at No. 11 in the world right now, is "supposed to" just stop playing? Because she's 37? After reaching a Wimbledon final? Yeah, that logic works real good.

And, sure, there was a bit of murmuring about what people are calling an accidental insult about Venus' age from Muguruza, 23, but that's reading too far between the lines. What she actually said was, "I grew up watching her play," which I'm sure is entirely factual. She later said, "sorry" sheepishly to laughs from the crowd. That's all fine and good.

And of course, Venus rose above it all on the court in her post-match interview to compliment Muguruza very kindly. She even handled the inevitable question about her sister very well when asked:

Venus remains as top class as her tennis ability—age be damned.