Venus Williams marked her return to the WTA Tour by teaming up with Washington native Hailey Baptiste and defeating Eugenie Bouchard of Canada and Clervie Ngounoue 6-3, 6-1, in a first-round doubles match at the Mubadala Citi D.C. Open on Monday.
Williams, 45, had not competed since March 2024 at the Miami Open. Earning a wild card to compete in D.C., the seven-time major singles champion will face 23-year-old Peyton Stearns in singles competition in the featured match on Tuesday night.
Three thousand fans — including NBA star and tennis fan Kevin Durant — packed cozy John Harris Court to witness Williams’ return and cheer on her partner, one of their hometown favorites. The Williams-Stearns match will be played on the main Stadium Court and will likely be filled as well.
Williams will be the oldest woman to compete at a WTA tour-level main draw match since Kimiko Date (then 46) took the court in Tokyo in 2018. Should Williams upset the 35th-ranked Stearns, she would become the oldest player to earn a victory since Martina Navratilova won a match at Wimbledon in 2004 as a 47-year-old.
Moreover, Williams and Reilly Opelka have signed up for the newly-formatted mixed doubles competition at this year’s U.S. Open. They would need a wild-card entry to compete in that event, to be held on Aug. 19-20, before the singles and doubles competitions get underway on Aug. 25.
–Field Level Media
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