WASHINGTON (AP) — Venus Williams aimed to make a statement — both to herself and to others — regarding her comeback after an extended break, her participation in a sport at 45 years old, and her resilience in the face of adversity. Indeed, there was something remarkable about simply being back on the tennis court Tuesday night.
There also was this: She really, really wanted to win.
Williams accomplished this by becoming the second-oldest woman to secure a win in a tour-level singles match in professional tennis, showcasing her trademark powerful serves and groundstrokes at 45 while defeating Peyton Stearns — who is 22 years her junior — with a 6-3, 6-4 victory at the DC Open.
“With every week of training, I kept thinking, ‘Oh, my God, am I ready yet?’ Then I’d have weeks of noticeable improvement. But there were also two weeks where I felt like, ‘Oh, God, it’s not coming together.’ Even in the week leading up, I was thinking, ‘Oh, my gosh, I still have so much to improve.’ It’s all a mental game,” Williams explained after her first singles match in over a year and her first singles win in almost two years.
Navratilova is the only woman older than Williams to win a singles match
The only older woman to win a tour-level singles match was Martina Navratilova, whose last triumph came at 47 in 2004.
The former No. 1-ranked Williams had not played singles in an official match since March 2024 in Miami, missing time while having surgery to remove uterine fibroids. She hadn’t won in singles since August 2023 in Cincinnati. Until this week, she was listed by the WTA Tour as “inactive.”
“I’m just constantly praying for good health, so that way I could have an opportunity to play with good health,” Williams said. “A lot of this for me is being able to come back and try to play at a level (and) to play healthy.”
Venus Williams won four Grand Slam titles before Peyton Stearns was born
Backed by a crowd that clearly was there to see, and support, her at the hard-court tournament in the nation’s capital, Williams showed glimpses of the talent she possesses and the skills she displayed while earning all of her Grand Slam titles: seven in singles, 14 in women’s doubles — all alongside younger sister Serena — and two in mixed doubles.
“I wanted to play a good match,” Williams told the fans, then added a phrase that drew appreciative roars: “and win the match.”
In Tuesday’s second game, Williams smacked a return winner to get things started, then delivered a couple of other big responses to break Stearns, a 23-year-old who won singles and team NCAA titles at the University of Texas and is currently ranked 35th.
In the next game, Williams sprinted forward to reach a drop shot and replied with a forehand winner.
The first chorus of cheers arrived when Williams walked out into the main stadium at the DC Open, a 7,000-seat arena that’s more than twice as large as where she was for her doubles victory a day earlier. Another came when she strode from the sideline to the center of the court for the coin toss. The noise reached a crescendo when Williams began hitting aces — at 110 mph and faster — the way she used to.
Keep in mind: Williams won four Grand Slam trophies before Stearns was born.
Venus Williams hit big serves and groundstrokes just like she always did
“She played some ball tonight,” Stearns said. “She was moving really well, which I wasn’t expecting too much, honestly. Her serves were just on fire.”
There also were moments where Williams — whose fiance was in the stands — looked as if it had been just as long as it actually has since she competed, including in the opening game, when she got broken at love this way: forehand wide, forehand into the net, forehand long, backhand long.
At the end, it took Williams a bit of extra effort to close things out. She kept holding match points and kept failing to convert them. But eventually, on her sixth chance, Williams powered in a 112 mph serve that Stearns returned into the net. That was it: Williams smiled wide as can be, raised a fist and jogged to the net to shake hands, then performed her customary post-win pirouette-and-wave.
“It’s not easy. It won’t be easy. It’s not easy for anyone out here,” said Williams, who next faces No. 5 seed Magdalena Frech, who’s 27. “So I know I’ll have to fight for every match. But I’m up for that.”
