At 45, Venus Williams returns to tennis with doubles win at D.C. Open
Venus and Serena Williams have been a team of doubles quite decent over the years.
The Compton sisters won 14 majors and three Olympic gold medals in duet.
But it turns out that the older sister was retained by her younger brother – at least that is what Villiams joined on Monday after winning his first match with the new partner of Double Hailey Baptiste in the first round of the DC Open.
“I think that, from the first point, I could see that we were going to be a good team,” said Williams in his interview on the field after the 6-3, 6-1 victory of the American duo against Eugenie Bouchard and Clervie Ngounoue. “We should have started playing earlier, years ago, right?” I think Serena was just on the way. ”
After the crowd of the ability of around 3,000 laughs at the joke, Williams smiled and praised the camera: “Sorry, Serena.”
Williams, 45, was perfectly allowed to be dizzy after a successful return to the Court following a 16 -month interruption, during which she underwent medical procedure to withdraw fibroids from her uterus last July.
“It’s just pleasant to be able to play,” said Williams at his post-battle press conference with Baptiste. “Where I’m this year, it’s so different from where I was last year. It’s night and day, be able to be here and prepare for the tournament rather than preparing for surgery a year ago. ”
She added: “Tennis is a game. It is our life. It is literally our obsession. … But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if your health is not there. So that has definitely put it into perspective and perhaps you facilitate the decision to come back here and perhaps play even more free.”
Williams’ return has only just begun. The seventh major winner and unique Olympic gold medalist should face Peyton Stearns in the United States in the first round of the women’s female tournament at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
Later this week, Williams and Baptiste will face the winner of the Tuesday match between Cristina Bucsa / Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Taylor Townsend / Shuai Zhang in the female quarter-finals.
As for Serena Williams, the 23 times champion of singles has not played since “Evolue Away From Tennis” after US Open 2022, where she and Venus lost in the first round in double and she evolved towards the third round in single before losing the Australian Ajla Tomljanovic in her last match.
“I keep saying to my team: the only thing that would make things better is if it was here,” said Williams about her sister, speaking with journalists on Sunday. “Like, we have always done everything together, so of course, I miss it.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
