The return of Venus Williams to the competitive WTA circuit has been the centre of attention of the Washington Open, and has so far been a success, winning her doubles match Halley Baptiste, and winning her first round singles match 6-3, 6-3 against Peyton Stearns.
The win (her first singles match in 16 months, since March 2024, and her first victory since 2023) makes Williams the oldest player to win a singles' match in the WTA circuit since Martina Navratilova, who won at the age of 47 in 2004. Still a way to go before catching that record, but that doesn't deny how impressive the record was. It's been 31 years sin Venus Williams won her first singles match at the WTA Tour in 1994, aged 14. Her rival today, Stearns, is only 23.
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"I'm not here for anyone else except for me. I have nothing to prove. Zip. Zero", Venus said. "I'm here for me because I want to be here. And proving anyone wrong or thinking about anyone has never gotten me a win and has never gotten me a loss."