Venus Williams makes history at 45 with WTA victory

Washington: In her first singles match in 16 months, former World No. 1 Venus Williams stormed past World No. 35 Peyton Stearns 6-3, 6-4 in the DC Open women’s singles first-round match on Wednesday (IST).

The 45-year-old Venus became the oldest player to win a tour-level singles match since then-47-year-old Martina Navratilova beat Catalina Castano at 2004 Wimbledon — over 21 years ago.

“It’s the first step, and the first match is always extremely difficult. It’s hard to describe how difficult it is to play a first match after so much time off. So going into the match, I know I have the ability to win, but it’s all about actually winning. So this is the best result, to play a good match and win. I’m here with my friends, family, people I love, and the fans, too, who I love and they love me, so this has been just a beautiful night,” Venus said after the match.

Seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Venus was already the oldest player to contest a tour-level singles match since then-46 year-old Kimiko Date lost her first-round match at 2017 Tokyo. Williams will now get to contest at least one more. This was her first singles win since she beat then-World No. 16 Veronika Kudermetova at 2023 Cincinnati — meaning her last two wins have come over Top 35 players, almost two years apart, WTA reports. IANS

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