Venus Williams, 45, becomes the oldest winner in the match of professional tennis players since Navratilova | Venus Williams
Venus Williams wanted to send a message – to herself and to others – about returning from a long layoff, about competition in a sport at the age of 45, about the lack of surrender. Yes, there was something special about returning to Tennis Stadium on Tuesday night.
There was also this: I really wanted to win.
Williams did so, to become the second oldest woman to win an individual match at the round level of professional tennis, as she presented some of her familiar and damaged fronts at the age of 45 while defeating Peyton Stearns-22 years old-6-3, 6-4 in the Open Capital Championship.
“Every week I was training, I was, like, my God, I don’t know if you are good enough yet.” Then there will be weeks that jump forward. Until the week before, (I thought), “Oh, my God, I need to improve much more.” Williams said after the first individual match for more than a year and her individual victory in nearly two.
Martina Navratilova was the only old woman who won an individual match at the round level, which came the last victory in 47 in 2004.
The former Williams, who achieved the first individual rank in an official match since March 2024 in Miami, has not played missing during surgery to remove uterine fibroids. It has not won the individual since August 2023 in Cincinnati. Until this week, it was included in the WTA tour as “inactive”.
“I just pray constantly for good health,” Williams said. “In this way, I can have the opportunity to play in good health,” Williams said. “Many of this is the ability to return and try to play at a level (and) to play in good health.”
With the support of a crowd who was clearly there to see and support it, in the strict court championship in the country’s capital, Williams showed glimpses of the talents she possesses and the skills she presented while earning all her titles in the Great Championships: Seven in the individual, and 14 in the women’s husband-all next to the younger sister Serena-two in the mixed doubles.
“I wanted to play a good match,” Williams told the fans, then added a phrase that sparked a appreciation roar: “Winning the match.”
In the second match on Tuesday, Williams struck a winner to return to starting matters, then gave other big responses to Break Stearns, who is 23 years old and won the NCAA team at the University of Texas and ranks 35 currently.
In the next match, Williams traveled forward to reach a drop shot and answered a winner.
The first chants choir arrived when Williams went out to the main stadium in the open capital championship, which is a square of 7000 seats, which is more than twice that it was in its victory one day ago. Another came when you want from the margin to the court center to throw the currency. The noise reached an escalation when Williams began hitting a landslide – at a speed of 110 miles per hour and faster – the way she used to.
Consider: Williams won four prizes in the four major championships before the birth of Sterins.
Venus Williams hit great consciousness and ground strikes just as I always did
“I played some ball tonight,” said Steers. “She was really moving well, which I did not expect much, frankly. Her fronts were on fire.”
There were also moments where Williams – whose fiancée was in the stands – seemed as if he had been his length as long as it had already been competing, including in the opening game, when it was broken in love in this way: the broad front, in the network, long front,
In the end, it took Williams a little extra effort to close things. She continued to hold the match points and continued to convert them. But in the end, in her sixth chance, Williams worked at 112 miles per hour that Sterns returned to the network. This was: Williams smiled widely as it could be, raised a grip and ran on the network to shake hands, then paid her and the usual wave.
“It isn’t easy. It is not easy for anyone here,” said Williams, who has not yet faced, said 5 seeds of 27 -year -old Majdina Fresh.