Venus Williams 'overwhelmed' by hamstring injury, preparing for rehab grind

Williams was set to play in her 22nd Australian Open after being given a wildcard but the two-time finalist sustained the injury while preparing at the Auckland Classic.

"To be honest, I was super overwhelmed by the injury," Williams said on her YouTube channel. "I've been injured a long time now and I couldn't believe I had to go back to rehab.

"After about a week, I started setting up my doctors appointments and started thinking about what was next for me and trying to really get a handle on how much time it'll take for me to get back.

"This is the kind of injury that you have to let it rest a bit before you can start to do serious rehab ... You have to walk before you run and I'm starting to walk pretty good. Hopefully, I'll be running soon, but for now, I'll not be playing tennis."

Williams, who has won five Wimbledon titles and two U.S Open crowns, is ranked 664th in the world having returned to competitive action in Auckland for the first time since being dumped out of last year's U.S. Open in the first round.