Venus Williams – the seven-time Grand Slam women’s singles champion – made history at the DC Open in Washington on Tuesday, becoming the oldest player to win a tour-level singles match at 45, in 21 years since then-47-year-old Martina Navratilova beat Catalina Castaño at Wimbledon 2004. Venus stormed past World No. 35 Peyton Stearns in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round.
She needed 1 hour and 37 minutes to defeat her 23-year-old compatriot. Earlier, Venus ended her 16-month break from competitive tennis – and three years from doubles – on Monday with a win in a women’s doubles match alongside Hailey Baptiste against Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard and US teenager Clervie Ngounoue.
Venus was already the oldest player to compete in a tour-level singles match since then-46-year-old Kimiko Date lost her first-round match in Tokyo in 2021. This was Venus’s first singles win since she beat then-World No. 16 Veronika Kudermetova at Cincinnati in 2023 – meaning her last two victories have come over Top 35 players, almost two years apart.
Venus will face another Top 35 player as she goes up against World No. 24 Magdalena Fręch in the Round of 16 on Thursday. Fręch of Poland beat qualifier Yuliia Starodubtseva 6-2, 6-4 in the first round on Monday.
Earlier on Monday, Venus paired up with compatriot Baptiste to defeat Bouchard and Ngounoue 6-3, 6-1 in a first-round women’s doubles match. Her comeback match was attended by about 3,000 spectators, including NBA star Kevin Durant.
“After the match, Hailey asked me, ‘How did that feel?’ It’s probably even harder to play the doubles first because I’m not a doubles player,” Williams said.
“So it’s great to have her to kind of hold the team up. She has had the experience. She served first because she has been playing all year and playing well. I think that helped me a lot,” she added.