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Venus Williams was all smiles after her first-round victory at the D.C. Open on Tuesday.
The 45-year-old tennis star made an unexpected return to the tennis court this week, 16 months after her last professional competition. With a dominant win over American Peyton Stearns, she became the oldest woman since Martina Navratilova to win a singles match.
Navratilova did it in 2004 at the age of 47.
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"It is not easy to come off after all that time and play the perfect match and all the players in the WTA are playing amazing – Peyton played so well. I felt like I was trying to slow myself down – we were going faster and faster and faster," Williams said after the 6-3, 6-4 victory.
"It’s just about putting it all together. You can still play a good match and lose the match. I wanted to play a good match and win the match. It’s so rewarding to come back after layoff and injuries – and you know, I didn’t have to come back to play as well."
TENNIS GREAT VENUS WILLIAMS ACCEPTS DC OPEN WILD CARD INVITATION FOR FIRST TOURNAMENT IN OVER A YEAR
Williams entered the D.C. Open with a wild card invitation. She opened the tournament with a doubles victory on Monday and followed the win with another dominant performance on Tuesday.
Williams' last official singles match was at the Miami Open in March 2024. Her last singles victory was at the Cincinnati Open in August 2023.
She advanced to the second round, where she will face the No. 5 seed Magdalena Frech on Thursday. Her second round doubles match is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.
Williams said Tuesday that she decided to return to tennis at the encouragement of her team and family – she even noted that she was interested in returning because of her health insurance.
But her comeback has already earned her a potential spot in the U.S. Open in New York this summer. She is paired with Reilly Opelka as one of the 25 entries for the Grand Slam in mixed doubles. Only 16 duos will make the field.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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