Tag: Venus Williams

Venus Williams fell at the first hurdle but said she was proud of herself after making history as the oldest woman to ever play at the Australian Open on Sunday.

The American seven-time Grand Slam champion, 45, was handed a wildcard for Melbourne, five years after she last appeared at the major.

It attracted some flak amid concerns that it deprived a younger player of the opportunity, compounded by Williams losing first-round matches at both her warm-up tournaments.

The ageless veteran showed she still has what it takes in patches, pushing 24-year-old Serbian Olga Danilovic all the way before losing the last six games to crash out 6-7 (5⁄7), 6-3, 6-4 in a gruelling 2hrs 17mins.

 “It was such a great game, such a great moment. The energy from the crowd was amazing. That lifted me up so much,” Williams said. “She played a great game. Also some luck there, as well. That’s just the sport. That’s how it works sometimes.

 “I’m really proud of my effort today because I’m playing better with each match, getting to the places that I want to get to,” she added.

 “Right now I’m just going to have to keep going forward and working on myself and working to control my errors.”

After getting a standing ovation, the former world number one, now ranked 578, made a promising start, breaking the 69th-ranked Danilovic’s first service game.

But the Serb quickly struck back with a lucky net cord helping her level the set.

Williams sent down powerful serves and showed no issues moving around the court as the set moved to a tiebreak, where she fell 2-0 behind but rallied to clinch it with a clinical forehand winner.

Danilovic managed to get an early break in the second set and Williams had no answers, sending it to a decider, where the American raced 4-0 clear.

But she lost focus, allowing Danilovic to battle back to 4-4 before a huge 14-and-a-half-minute ninth game that proved pivotal.

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Williams had six game points, but failed to convert, and the Serb took the game on her second break point before serving out for the win.

 “Not easy,” said Danilovic. “There was a lot of nerves. I just said to myself, ‘Okay, just play, just take everything out and just play point by point’.

 “I’m very happy I managed to get this one, but it was such a pleasure playing such a legend.”

Williams, who first graced Melbourne Park in 1998, has played only sporadically in recent years.

A five-time Wimbledon champion, she was an Australian Open singles finalist in 2003 and 2017 and won the doubles title four times alongside sister Serena.

Japan’s Kimiko Date, who was 44 when she lost in the first round in 2015, previously held the record as the oldest woman to play singles at the Australian Open.

Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams will play in January’s Auckland Classic at the age of 45, according the tournament organisers.

Williams has been awarded a wild card for the Australian Open warm-up event from January 5-11 after only returning to the circuit in August at the US Open after a 16-month break.

 “She is one of the great players in the modern era and her performances on the court speak for themselves,” said tournament director Nicolas Lamperin, who added that she was in “remarkable shape and form”.

 “Off the court she has made an equally significant contribution to the game and to the development of female players worldwide,” he said. “Venus has had a profound influence on the evolution of women’s tennis and has inspired the next generation with her unshakeable passion for the sport.”

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Williams, who won the Auckland Classic in 2015 when she beat Caroline Wozniacki in the final, has lifted five Wimbledon singles titles, two US Opens and an Olympic gold, in Sydney in 2000.

Lamperin said it was a “privilege” to have Williams back at the tournament.

 “All sports fans should take this opportunity to watch one of the sport’s all-time greats in action.”

Japan’s four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka was also announced as a confirmed entry for the tournament.

The Australian Open begins in Melbourne on January 18.

Two-time former champion Venus Williams is set to make her 25th US Open appearance after receiving a wild card into the women’s singles.

The 45-year-old American recently returned from a 16-month layoff after a serious health scare and was among eight women’s wild card recipients named on Wednesday by tournament organisers.

Seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Williams will become the oldest singles entrant at the US Open since Renee Richards, who was 47 in 1981.

Williams underwent surgery last year to remove uterine fibroids and missed most of the season.

She made her comeback last month and became the oldest WTA match winner since Martina Navratilova at the age of 47 at Wimbledon in 2004, beating Peyton Stearns in the first round of the DC Open.

Williams, the 2000 Sydney Olympic singles champion, has also won five Wimbledon singles titles to go along with her 2000 and 2001 US Open triumphs.

She lost in the final in New York on her debut to Martina Hingis as a teenager in 1997. Venus also finished runner-up to younger sister Serena in 2002.

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The most recent of her 49 WTA titles came in 2016 at the Taiwan Open.

Williams will also compete in the new-look US Open mixed doubles next week alongside Reilly Opelka.

France’s Caroline Garcia, 31, was given a wild card into what will be her final Grand Slam before retirement. Her best run at a major came when she reached the US Open semi-finals three years ago.

Americans Clervie Ngounoue, Julieta Pareja, Caty McNally, Valerie Glozman and Alyssa Ahn are other wild card recipients, as is Australian Talia Gibson.

On the men’s side, American players Brandon Holt, Nishesh Basavareddy, Tristan Boyer, Emilio Nava, Stefan Dostanic and Darwin Blanch all earned wild cards.

The final two went to France’s Valentin Royer and Australia’s Tristan Schoolkate.

The US Open singles main draw begins on August 24.

Venus Williams will make her return from a 16-month layoff at this week’s DC Open, the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion saying she is not sure of anything beyond that.

The 45-year-old American overcame a serious health scare last year and after enjoying a visit to Wimbledon decided to accept a wildcard into the US capital tournament, the first hard-court tune-up for the US Open.

 “I think I know what I want to do, but I don’t always want to talk about it,” Williams said. “I’m just here for now. And who knows? Maybe there is more. I hold my cards close, but at the moment, I’m focused just on this.”

Williams will open against 23-year-old American Peyton Stearns, ranked 34th in the world. Stearns won her only WTA title last year on clay at Rabat.

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The older sister of 23-time Grand Slam singles champion Serena Williams has not played since a first-round loss at Miami last year.

 “My personal goal is to have fun I think right now and enjoy the moment, not put too much pressure on myself,” Venus Williams said.

 “I don’t know if I define success at this moment in any sort of way other than believing in myself and sticking to my process. That’s not easy to do, especially after a layoff. So those are my goals.”

Venus Williams, the 2000 Sydney Olympic singles champion, has won five Wimbledon singles titles and two US Open crowns.

The most recent of her 49 WTA titles came in 2019 at the Taiwan Open. That was the last year she played a full tour schedule.

“I definitely feel I’ll play well,” Williams said. “I’m still the same player. I’m a big hitter. I hit big. This is my brand.

 “So it’s about hitting big and actually putting it in. So this will be my effort. Put it in the court. That’s my main goal.”

A year ago, tennis was far from the most important thing on her mind.

 “Yeah, my health journey was very scary. You know, this time a year ago I was preparing to go to surgery,” she said. “There was no way for me to play tennis or play the US Open… I was just trying to get healthy.

 “In this last year, I have been through a lot physically, so to come back and be able to play and hopefully enjoy myself is a great opportunity.”

Williams was feeling well enough to accept a wildcard and a visit to Wimbledon added some inspiration.

 “I had been hitting the ball and of course I love the game and the hard courts. It’s my favourite surface, what I feel comfortable on. so all those different factors,” Williams said of her choice to play in Washington.

 “When I went to Wimbledon this year, I was there for a day and it was so beautiful and exciting. I remembered all the times that I had, and of course the adrenaline, all those things.

 “I think just the pure fun of playing the game, the fun of the challenge, overcoming. Those things are very exciting.”

The seven Slam singles titles by Williams match the rest of the Washington field, which includes four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka of Japan.