Latest news with #Serena
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Venus Williams makes winning return to tennis aged 45
Venus Williams enjoyed a winning return to competitive tennis after 16 months away as she reached the quarterfinals of the women's doubles at the DC Open alongside Hailey Baptiste. The all-American pair defeated compatriot Clervie Ngounoue and the retiring Eugenie Bouchard 6-3, 6-1 in the round of 16 for Williams' first victory on the WTA Tour since August 2023, when she defeated Veronika Kudermetova in the opening round of the Cincinnati Open. Williams, 45, gave her signature twirl after the match as she took in the adulation of the capacity crowd. 'It's just nice to be able to play,' Williams said after the match, per the Associated Press. 'Where I am at this year is so much different where I was at last year. It's night and day, being able to be here and prepare for the tournament as opposed to preparing for surgery a year ago.' Williams told NBC earlier this month that she had undergone surgery to remove fibroids from her uterus, a condition she said had affected her career and life for years. 'At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter if your health is not there,' she added. 'So, it definitely put it in perspective for me and maybe made it easier to make the decision to maybe come back out here and maybe play even freer.' It was the first time Williams had stepped onto the court at all for an official match since an opening-round defeat to Diana Shnaider at the Miami Open in March 2024. Her last doubles match was almost three years ago. Williams, who is currently without a ranking in singles or doubles, has won seven grand slam singles titles and 14 in doubles alongside youngster sister Serena, as well as two mixed doubles titles in 1998. After the win, Williams joked that her and Baptiste should have partnered up much sooner. 'I think, from the first point, I could see that we were going to be a good team,' she said. 'We just should have started playing earlier, years ago, right? I think Serena was just in the way.' Williams, who accepted wild cards to compete in the singles and doubles, will make her return in the singles competition when she faces American Peyton Stearns in the opening round on Tuesday.
NDTV
11 hours ago
- Sport
- NDTV
Venus Williams Wins In Washington Doubles Opener After 16-Month Layoff
Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams emerged victorious in her first professional tennis match in 16 months, joining Hailey Baptiste to defeat fellow doubles wild cards Eugenie Bouchard and Clervie Ngounoue in the DC Open first round. It was a sharp turnaround. Down 3-1 and facing a break point, Venus and Baptiste rallied to win 11 of the last 12 games. This is Venus' second appearance at the D.C. event, following a first-round loss in 2022. The 45-year-old former world number one, who accepted a wildcard for the tournament, had not competed since the Miami Open in March 2024 - and last won at the Cincinnati Open in August 2023. "It was inspiring to be out here. I love this game and still hitting it big. I think from the first point I could see that we were going to be a good team. We just should have started playing earlier, years ago, right? I think Serena was just in the way," Venus told Sky Sports. Venus, who does not have a ranking, won 14 major titles alongside Serena in the women's doubles, as the Williams sisters dominated the sport for many years. She will face another American, Peyton Stearns, in the first round of the singles competition on Tuesday. When she takes the court as a wild card for her first singles match, she'll be the oldest player to compete at a WTA Tour-level main-draw match since Kimiko Date (then 46) seven years ago in Tokyo. A victory on Tuesday Stearns, currently ranked No. 35, would make Williams the oldest to do it since Martina Navratilova (then 47) at Wimbledon 2004. In the men's singles, Britain's Dan Evans and Cameron Norrie are through to the second round in Washington. Evans, who won the Washington title in 2023, claimed a hard-fought win against Zizou Bergs 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. The 35-year-old wild card will next face 13th-seeded American Alex Michelsen. Meanwhile, Norrie defeated British qualifier Billy Harris 6-3 7-6 (7-4) and faces French Open semi-finalist and second seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy in the second round.
Irish Independent
11 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Venus Williams (45) makes winning return at Washington Open after 16 months away from tennis
Williams, the seven-time Grand Slam champion, accepted a wildcard for the event in Washington, DC and had not played since the Miami Open in March last year. Now 45, Williams joined compatriot Hailey Baptiste in the doubles, where the pair defeated Eugenie Bouchard and Clervie Ngounoue 6-3 6-1 to progress into the second round. Williams won the Cincinnati Open back in August 2023 - her last title - and she is not limiting herself to doubles, with her first-round singles match against fellow American Peyton Stearns. Venus and her sister Serena boast a combined 30 major singles titles, and they won 14 Grand Slam doubles events together as well. It was Venus' first time playing doubles in three years, and she joined 23-year-old Baptiste, the world No50, in the capital. She joked afterwards that she preferred playing with Baptiste than with her younger sister, who she dominated the tennis world with. "I think from the first point I could see that we were going to be a good team,' Williams told Sky Sports after her first-round win. 'We just should have started playing earlier, years ago, right? I think Serena was just in the way. "It was inspiring to be out here, I love this game and still hitting it big." Williams does not have a ranking due to such a long period out of the game, and it remains to be seen whether she will continue to play the American hard-court swing ahead of the US Open, which begins at the end of August. Elsewhere in the women's doubles draw, British No1 Emma Raducanu partnered with former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina to defeat her compatriot Olivia Nicholls and her partner Tereza Mihalikova 2-6 7-6(4) 11-9. Nicholls and Mihailikova were the fourth seeds in the draw. Raducanu and Rybakina's partnership took its time to gel, as the pair lost the opening five games of the opening set, being broken three times, before recovering to take the match with two tiebreak victories.
The Sun
11 hours ago
- Sport
- The Sun
Venus Williams wins doubles comeback after 16-month break
VENUS Williams marked her return to competitive tennis with a victory in the women's doubles at the Washington Open on Monday. The 45-year-old American, who had not played a match in 16 months, partnered with Hailey Baptiste to defeat Eugenie Bouchard and Clervie Ngounoue 6-3 6-1 in the round of 16. Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam singles champion, last competed at the Miami Open in March last year. Speaking after the match, she described her comeback as 'inspiring' and praised her partnership with Baptiste. 'It wasn't easy for us but we brought it together quickly as a team. I love this game and still hitting it big,' Williams told Sky Sports. The former world number one joked about her long-time doubles partnership with younger sister Serena, with whom she won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles. 'I could see that we were going to be a good team. We just should have started playing earlier, years ago, right?' Williams said. 'I think Serena was just in the way.' - Reuters
Hans India
12 hours ago
- Sport
- Hans India
Venus Williams wins in Washington doubles opener after 16-month layoff
Washington: Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams emerged victorious in her first professional tennis match in 16 months, joining Hailey Baptiste to defeat fellow doubles wild cards Eugenie Bouchard and Clervie Ngounoue in the DC Open first round. It was a sharp turnaround. Down 3-1 and facing a break point, Venus and Baptiste rallied to win 11 of the last 12 games. This is Venus' second appearance at the D.C. event, following a first-round loss in 2022. The 45-year-old former world number one, who accepted a wildcard for the tournament, had not competed since the Miami Open in March 2024 - and last won at the Cincinnati Open in August 2023. "It was inspiring to be out here. I love this game and still hitting it big. I think from the first point I could see that we were going to be a good team. We just should have started playing earlier, years ago, right? I think Serena was just in the way," Venus told Sky Sports. Venus, who does not have a ranking, won 14 major titles alongside Serena in the women's doubles, as the Williams sisters dominated the sport for many years. She will face another American, Peyton Stearns, in the first round of the singles competition on Tuesday. When she takes the court as a wild card for her first singles match, she'll be the oldest player to compete at a WTA Tour-level main-draw match since Kimiko Date (then 46) seven years ago in Tokyo. A victory on Tuesday Stearns, currently ranked No. 35, would make Williams the oldest to do it since Martina Navratilova (then 47) at Wimbledon 2004. In the men's singles, Britain's Dan Evans and Cameron Norrie are through to the second round in Washington. Evans, who won the Washington title in 2023, claimed a hard-fought win against Zizou Bergs 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. The 35-year-old wild card will next face 13th-seeded American Alex Michelsen. Meanwhile, Norrie defeated British qualifier Billy Harris 6-3 7-6 (7-4) and faces French Open semi-finalist and second seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy in the second round.
