Venus Williams is out of Wimbledon, but her status remains legendary

No one remained in their seat as Venus Williams, 43, walked off Wimbledon’s Centre Court on Monday following her 6-4, 6-3 loss to Elina Svitolina. All of the nearly 15,000 in attendance were on their feet showering her with applause, and “We love you, Venus” screams could be heard throughout the stadium.

Williams, a five-time champion at the tournament, gave no outward display of emotion to the reaction from the crowd. She waved with her left hand as she walked as fast as she could, despite a noticeable limp.

Williams was playing as a wild card in a record-setting 24th main draw appearance at Wimbledon, breaking a tie with Martina Navratilova for the most in the Open era. While there has been speculation that this would be her final time playing at the All England Club, Williams has given no concrete indication of her future plans. But it was clear this wasn’t a ceremonial match. She wanted to win — and believed she could do just that.

“I’ve played through a lot of injuries and won a lot of matches injured,” Williams said after the match. “It’s almost a specialty of mine. I just couldn’t figure it out today.”

After playing sparingly the past few seasons, and after a hamstring injury suffered in Auckland in January, Williams made her return to competition last month. She lost in her first match at the Libema Open but was resurgent the next week at Birmingham, defeating Camila Giorgi in a marathon match that lasted well over three hours, and battling eventual champion Jelena Ostapenko for three hard-fought sets.

At the start of Monday’s first-round match against Svitolina, it appeared as if Williams’ momentum might continue when she won the first two games with ease. But then Williams took a fall at the net in the fourth game, screaming as she fell to the ground. As she clutched her already wrapped right knee, it appeared her tournament might be prematurely over. But after a brief medical timeout, she returned to the court. She continued to fight, her movement clearly hindered, but it wasn’t enough against Svitolina. The match concluded on an overruled challenge. Neither player seemed happy to have it end in such a way.

While the loss was understandably disappointing for Williams, the actual match outcome was irrelevant to many of her peers. Her sheer presence…