Venus Williams describes being "overwhelmed" by injury ahead of Australian Open

Williams was playing in the ASB Classic in Auckland earlier this season, a tune-up event for the Australian Open, which she first played in 1998. However, she suffered a hamstring injury in the final set of her loss to Zhu Lin in the second round.

The veteran initially thought it was a niggle, but later the pain only increased¦

"But as the night progressed, and as I ate cookies - when I lose, my treat is sugar - and I'm sitting in bed and my leg hurts," the 42-year-old said on her YouTube channel.

"It's never a good sign when you're in pain at rest. I really can't walk that well, and I tell my physio, 'Let's get an MRI.' I'm barely walking in this place, shuffling ... walking, barely taking steps. I got my results later that day and, to no surprise, I had some tears in the hamstring attachment."

Since turning professional at the tender age of 14, Williams has seemingly done it all, notching up 49 career titles, including seven grand slams, and is second only to her indomitable sister, Serena, on the all-time WTA money list.

Nonetheless, Williams still has the drive to compete and when she can't, it's a mental challenge.

"To be honest, I was super overwhelmed by the injury," she continued.

"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 little bit before you even can start to do serious rehab. But I've started. You have to walk before you run, and right now, I'm starting to walk pretty good. Hopefully, I'll be running pretty soon, but for now, I will not be playing tennis. I think the next step for me is to get to a place where I feel confident in my body again.

"I'll get there, God-willing, and I'll take you guys on this journey with me back to health, back to tennis, hopefully sooner rather than later."

Williams last won a singles title in 2016, but played in the Australian Open and Wimbledon finals in 2017.