Venus Williams made a successful return to singles tennis on Tuesday following a 16 month break, defeating fellow American Peyton Stearns with scores of 6-3, 6-4, thereby advancing to the second round of the WTA and ATP DC Open. The 45-year-old, who has won seven Grand Slam singles titles throughout her career, achieved her 819th career WTA singles victory in just 97 minutes during the first hard court tune-up event for the US Open. “It is not easy to come off after all that time and play the perfect match,” she remarked. “Peyton played exceptionally well. I felt as though I was attempting to restrain myself from accelerating further and further.”
Williams had not participated in a WTA single match since March of the previous year in Miami and had not secured a victory in 709 days the last being against Russian player Veronika Kudermetova in the first round at Cincinnati in August 2023.
According to sources, Williams said “I aimed to play a strong match and achieve a win,” Williams remarked. It is incredibly fulfilling to rerun after a period of absence and injuries.”
Williams made history as the oldest player to take part in a WTA tour-level match since Japan’s Kimiko Date, who was 46 during her appearance in Tokyo in 2017. She also became the oldest WTA match winner since Martina Navratilova, who was 47 when she won at Wimbledon in 2004.
“I greatly appreciate the energy from every here,” Williams expressed to the audience. “We were truly experiencing this journey together.
Williams took a 4-3 advantage in the second set, securing nine out of ten points in one sequences. She then maintained her lead at 5-3 and challenged Stearns in a lengthy ninth game lasting 12 minutes, but she failed to convert four match points before Stearns managed to hold her serve.
On her sixth match point, Williams demolish delivered a powerful service winner to clinch the victory, thereby securing a second-round matchup against Polish fifth seed Magdalena French.
“I am here against thanks to the support of my team, who encouraged me to return and compete once more, so much of this is dedicated to you all,” Williams expressed to the audience.
