By Chris Oddo

Photo Credit: Reuters

(June 25, 2012)—For most players it would have been a walk of shame. The moments after a listless loss, when a once-proud champion tries to come to grips with life as an athlete that is past her prime.

But not for Venus Williams. This was a walk of pride. And no, she is not past her prime.

Moments after her earliest Wimbledon defeat since 1997—yes, long before she became a five-time champion and one of the most dominant players in Wimbledon history—Venus Williams was making the long walk back from Court 2 to the media room. Camera’s clicked, wandering fans gawked and commentators talked.

“She looks like a shadow of her former self.”

“It is hard to watch.”

“She was clearly not there from the start.”

“Could this be her last Wimbledon?”

All of this and more was said as Venus faltered against Elena Vesnina in a manner so decidedly un-Venus-like that yes, the 6-1, 6-3 shocker was a little hard to watch.

What wasn’t hard to watch was the look of calm in her eyes as she walked that difficult walk to the pressroom. What was clearly there was the spirituality that has made this woman special ever since she was a little child with the dream of becoming a tennis star.

If it were me I would have put a towel over my head to hide, but not Venus Williams—Venus doesn’t hide. She held her head up in that “I am not going to let a piddly little thing like losing a tennis match get me down” type of way, and walked on slowly, focusing her mind on all the positive things in her world, resolved not to believe the hype. 

In the pressroom, the usual questions about her demise were asked.

“You’re 32, you’re struggling, you have a lot of other interests. What’s going to motivate you after the Olympics?”

She looked offended, but in her true big sister fashion, Venus stopped short of taking out her frustrations on those intent on burying her.

“I feel like I’m a great player,” said Williams. “I am a great player. Unfortunately I’ve had to deal with circumstances that people don’t have to deal with normally in a sport, but I can’t be discouraged by that.”

If there ever was a way to handle an excruciatingly difficult day, Venus was doing just that. She may have lost on the court today, but she was winning in the pressroom, showing us all that championship character can prevail off the court in spite of a pedestrian defeat on it.  

Make no excuses. Face the music. And never stop believing in yourself.

“I feel like everybody’s panicking about Venus,” said Darren Cahill from the ESPN Wimbledon set. “Maybe there’s good reason, but I feel like she’s still inspired to play good tennis, she still wants it, and she’s only played a handful of matches this year. Give her a chance. Let her play some tournaments, let her find her tennis legs, and she’s a good enough player to start winning tennis matches again. Let’s not jump to conclusions about Venus.”

It’s true. Cahill, as the eloquent commentator so often does, nailed it. No need to panic about Venus. Just because she had one bad day doesn't mean the rest of her days will be bad.

And she’s still in the doubles draw, for god’s sake.

“I’m up for challenges,” continued Venus, still trying to make to make the reporters understand why this whole horrible day was going to only make her stronger as a person. “I have great tennis in me, I just need the opportunity. There’s no way I’m gonna just sit down and give up just because I have a hard time the first five or six freaking tournaments back. That’s just not me.”

No it isn’t, that’s clear. You could tell that just by watching her walk the grounds after a tough loss. She may have been tired, frustrated and misunderstood, but she was not about to quit.

She may have lost a battle, but Venus is bigger than the battle these days anyway.