Venus Williams made her surprise return to competitive tennis this week, at the Mubadala Citi DC Open (the Washington Open). And her first match since March 2024 (where she lost in first round at the Miami Open) became her first win since August 2023, at the Cincinnati Open. It was in the doubles category, teaming up with fellow American Hailey Baptiste, defeating the Canadian Eugenie Bouchard and Clervie Ngounoue 6-3, 6-1.
Williams, 45, who fell out of the WTA ranking, nearly doubled the age of her partner, 23-year-old Baptiste, world no. 50, and joked: "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".
Although the pair starting losing 3-1, they managed to turn the match completely and ended up winning comfortably. Venus Williams, winner of 14 titles in doubles with her sister Serena, said to be proud of seeing three African Americans on the court. "It's amazing that now African American girls know they can play tennis, that that's an option, an opportunity for them to be out there too on the court in whatever capacity".
Venus' debut on singles will be today Tuesday (actually, Wednesday, July 23, at 00:30 BST, 1:30 CEST) against 23-year-old Peyton Stearns, World No. 35.