Venus Williams, 45, to end 16-month layoff in Washington
"I think I know what I want to do, but I don't always want to talk about it," Williams said. "I'm just here for now. And who knows? Maybe there is more. I hold my cards close, but at the moment, I'm focused just on this."
Williams will open against 23-year-old American Peyton Stearns, ranked 34th in the world. Stearns won her only WTA title last year on clay at Rabat.
The older sister of 23-time Grand Slam singles champion Serena Williams has not played since a first-round loss at Miami last year.
"My personal goal is to have fun I think right now and enjoy the moment, not put too much pressure on myself," Venus Williams said.
"I don't know if I define success at this moment in any sort of way other than believing in myself and sticking to my process. That's not easy to do, especially after a layoff. So those are my goals."
Venus Williams, the 2000 Sydney Olympic singles champion, has won five Wimbledon singles titles and two US Open crowns.
The most recent of her 49 WTA titles came in 2019 at the Taiwan Open. That was the last year she played a full tour schedule.
"I definitely feel I'll play well," Williams said. "I'm still the same player. I'm a big hitter. I hit big. This is my brand.
"So it's about hitting big and actually putting it in. So this will be my effort. Put it in the court. That's my main goal."
A year ago, tennis was far from the most important thing on her mind.
"Yeah, my health journey was very scary. You know, this time a year ago I was preparing to go to surgery," she said. "There was no way for me to play tennis or play the US Open... I was just trying to get healthy.
"In this last year, I have been through a lot physically, so to come back and be able to play and hopefully enjoy myself is a great opportunity."
'Fun of the challenge'
Williams was feeling well enough to accept a wildcard and a visit to Wimbledon added some inspiration.
"I had been hitting the ball and of course I love the game and the hard courts. It's my favorite surface, what I feel comfortable on. so all those different factors," Williams said of her choice to play in Washington.
"When I went to Wimbledon this year, I was there for a day and it was so beautiful and exciting. I remembered all the times that I had, and of course the adrenaline, all those things.
"I think just the pure fun of playing the game, the fun of the challenge, overcoming. Those things are very exciting."
The seven Slam singles titles by Williams match the rest of the Washington field, which includes four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka of Japan.
© 2025 AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
LeMonde
2 hours ago
- LeMonde
Venus Williams, 45, makes triumphant return to singles tennis
Venus Williams made a magical return to singles tennis on Tuesday after a 16-month hiatus, defeating fellow American Peyton Stearns 6-3, 6-4 to reach the second round of the WTA and ATP DC Open. The 45-year-old winner of seven career Grand Slam singles titles rolled to her 819th career WTA singles victory in 97 minutes at the first US Open hardcourt tuneup event. "It is not easy to come off after all that time and play the perfect match," she said. "Peyton played so well. I felt like I was trying to slow myself down from going faster and faster and faster." Williams had not played a WTA singles match since March of last year at Miami and had not won a match in 709 days – since defeating Russian Veronika Kudermetova in the first round at Cincinnati in August 2023. "I wanted to play a good match and win the match," Williams said. "It's so rewarding to come back after a layoff and injuries." Williams became the oldest player to compete in a WTA tour-level match since Japan's Kimiko Date at 46 in Tokyo in 2017. She became the oldest WTA match winner since Martina Navratilova at age 47 at Wimbledon in 2004. "Thank you so much for the energy," Williams told the crowd. "We were literally living and dying together." Williams broke for a 4-3 lead in the second set, winning nine of 10 points in one stretch, then held to 5-3 and pushed Stearns in a 12-minute ninth game but missed on four match points before Stearns held. Williams smashed a service winner on her sixth match point for the triumph, booking a second-round date with Polish fifth seed Magdalena Frech. "I'm back here because of the encouragement of my team and they wanted me to come on back and play again so a lot of this is for you guys," Williams told spectators. "You guys don't know how much work goes into this. It's nine to five but you're running the whole time, lifting weights and then you're like dying – and then you repeat it the next day." Japan's Naomi Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion, ousted Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan 6-2, 7-5, to book a second-round match against Britain's Emma Raducanu, the 2021 US Open winner who eliminated Ukraine's seventh-seeded Marta Kostyuk 7-6 (7/4), 6-4. "I'm excited about it," Osaka said. "I've never played her before, so for me, that's something really cool too. Because I've seen her, I guess when she first did well at Wimbledon before she won the US Open, moments like that, and I knew she was a good player." "I'm looking forward to the match," Raducanu said. "It will be a great test of my own game and myself."
France 24
5 hours ago
- France 24
US Olympic policy change bans transgender women in women's events
A new note on the USOPC website regarding the participation of transgender athletes in sports says: "As of July 21, 2025, please refer to the USOPC athlete safety policy." The policy update, following US President Donald Trump's "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" executive order, was added to the USOPC Athlete Safety Policy on its website as a new subsection entitled "Additional Requirements." "The USOPC is committed to protecting opportunities for athletes participating in sport," the addition reads. "The USOPC will continue to collaborate with various stakeholders with oversight responsibilities... to ensure that women have a fair and safe competition environment consistent with Executive Order 14201 (Trump's order) and the Ted Stevens Olympic & Amateur Sports Act." The Stevens Act, adopted in 1988, provides a means of handling eligibility disputes for Olympic sports and other amateur events. A memo to Team USA from USOPC chief executive Sarah Hirshland and president Gene Sykes on Tuesday obtained by ABC News and ESPN made reference to Trump's February executive order, saying: "As a federally chartered organization, we have an obligation to comply with federal expectations." Trump's executive order threatens to remove federal funds from any school or institution allowing transgender girls to play on girls' teams, claiming that would violate Title IX rules giving US women equal sport opportunities. The order requires immediate enforcement against institutions that deny women single-sex sports and single-sex locker rooms. "Our revised policy emphasizes the importance of ensuring fair and safe competition environments for women," ESPN quoted the USOPC letter to governing bodies as saying. "All National Governing Bodies are required to update their applicable policies in alignment." ESPN also said the officials noted the USOPC "has engaged in a series of respectful and constructive conversations with federal officials" in the wake of Trump's executive order. The move comes as Los Angeles awaits a host role for the 2028 Summer Olympics. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) also altered its policy for transgender athlete participation to limit women's sports competitors to athletes assigned female at birth after Trump's executive order.
France 24
8 hours ago
- France 24
Britain's Norrie ousts Musetti to advance at DC Open
Norrie, seeking his sixth ATP title, captured his first victory over a top-10 player in 2 1/2 years by eliminating the second seed at the first hardcourt tuneup for the US Open. "I made it very difficult for him," Norrie said. "My backhand was coming through the court low. My forehand was jumping. I'm just enjoying my tennis a lot more these days." Norrie, whose most recent title was in February 2023 at Rio, snapped a 14-match losing streak against top-10 foes with a fightback after taking a time violation to reset in the fifth game of the last set. "I was sweating so much I literally had to, my sweatband was moving on my arm and my shirt was bothering me," Norrie said. "I said whatever, I'm just going to take the time violation and reset... I think I played maybe the three best points of the match after that. "Held that game and I think that was the difference. It was a great move looking back." Norrie said he was playing "like a kid again." "I just kind of let go of the expectations and I'm playing tennis more to enjoy now," he said. "You've got to enjoy it otherwise you can get burned out on this long schedule." Also hoping to turn back the clock was seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Venus Williams, who will make her return to singles after a 16-month hiatus later. The 45-year-old American will face compatriot Peyton Stearns while Japan's Naomi Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion, meets Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan in another later match. Musetti, who had a first-round bye, reached three semi-finals and a final on clay earlier this year, falling to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz in a French Open semi-final. But he dropped his opener at Wimbledon and suffered his third loss in a row at Washington. Norrie managed only three winners in the first set, two of them on aces, but dominated the second set to force a third. Norrie saved five break points to hold in the fifth game of the final set then broke Musetti on his fourth chance in the sixth game, grabbing a 4-2 lead on an errant backhand by the Italian. Musetti fought off two match points in the final game, one on a Norrie double fault, but fell to the 29-year-old left-hander by sending a backhand beyond the baseline after two hours and seven minutes. Chinese qualifier Wu Yibing beat France's Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-1 for his first tour-level triumph since last year at Shanghai after the Frenchman ran into a clock at the rear corner of the court in the first set, hitting it with his right ankle. "I saw him falling down there," Wu said. I don't know what happened but after I asked him. He said his foot actually maybe stuck under the clock. © 2025 AFP
