Venus Williams, 45, becomes oldest WTA match winner since Navratilova | Venus Williams

Venus Williams wanted to send a message – to herself and others – about returning from a long layout, participating in a sport at 45, never abandoning. Yes, there was something special in the simple fact of being back on a tennis court on Tuesday evening.

There was also this: she really wanted, really winning.

And Williams did exactly that, becoming the second oldest woman to win a match in a single level of professional tennis, offering some of her great familiar services and bases at 45 years old while beating Peyton Stearns – 22 years old his junior – by a score of 6-3, 6-4 at the DC Open.

“Every week that I trained, I was, like:” Oh, my God, I don’t know if I’m still good enough. And then there would be weeks when I would jump forward. Even the previous week, (I thought): “Oh, my God, I have to improve myself much more.” So it’s a whole top match, “said Williams after his first single game in more than a year and the first victory in simple in almost two.

The only older woman to win a single match at the Tour was Martina Navratilova, the last triumph of which arrived at 47 in 2004.

The former No. 1 Williams has not played in a single in an official match since March 2024 in Miami, lacking time while undergoing surgery to eliminate uterine fibroids. She had not won in simple since August 2023 in Cincinnati. Until this week, it was listed by the WTA tour as “inactive”.

“I pray constantly for good health, so that I can have the opportunity to play with good health,” said Williams. “Much of this for me is to be able to come back and try to play at a level (and) to play healthy.”

Supported by a crowd that was clearly there to see, and support it, in the hard terrace tournament in the national capital, Williams showed an overview of the talent she has and the skills she has shown while winning all her Grand Chelem titles: seven in singles, 14 in female double – everywhere next to the younger sister Serena – and two in mixed double.

“I wanted to play a good match,” Williams told fans, then added a sentence that attracted appreciation of appreciation: “and win the match.”

In Tuesday’s second game, Williams hit a return winner to start things, then delivered a few other big answers to Break Stearns, a 23 -year -old man who won single and NCAA team titles at the University of Texas and is currently classified 35th.

In the next match, Williams sprinted forward to reach a drop shot and responded with a forehand.

The first acclamation choir arrived when Williams was released in the main stadium of the DC Open, a 7,000 -seater arena which is more than twice as large than the place where she was for her double victory a day earlier. Another came when she went from the key line to the center of the courtyard for the draw. The noise reached a crescendo when Williams began to strike aces – at 110 mph and faster – as she did.

Keep in mind: Williams won four Grand Slam trophies before the birth of Stearns.
Venus Williams struck great services and shots as she has always done

“She played the ball tonight,” said Stearns. “She was moving very well, which I didn’t expect too much, honestly. Her servings were just on fire.”

There were also moments when Williams – whose fiancé was in the stands – seemed that it had been as long as he has done so since she competed, including in the opening match, when she was broken in Love in this way: the forehand, the forehand in the net, the long forehand, the long backhand.

At the end, Williams took a little additional effort to close things. She continued to hold match points and continued not to convert them. But finally, in his sixth chance, Williams propelled in a service of 112 MPH that Stearns returned to the net. It was all: Williams smiled much as possible, raised a fist and jogging on the net to shake hands, then made his pirouette and a wave of usual post-victotesc.

“It is not easy. It will not be easy. It is not easier for anyone here,” said Williams, who then faces no 5 Seed Magdalena Frech, who is 27 years old. “So I know I’m going to have to fight for every game. But I’m ready for that.”