There's Only Been One Player Older Than Venus to Do This

Venus Williams wanted to send a message—to herself and others—about coming back from a long layoff, competing in a sport at age 45, and never giving up. Yes, there was something special about just being back on a tennis court on Tuesday night. There also was this: She really, really wanted to win. And Williams did just that, becoming the second-oldest woman to win a tour-level singles match in pro tennis, delivering some of her familiar big serves and ground strokes while beating Peyton Stearns—22 years her junior—by a 6-3, 6-4 score at the DC Open, per the AP.

"Each week that I was training, I was, like, 'Oh my God, I don't know if I'm good enough yet,'" Williams said. "And then there would be weeks where I would leap forward. And there would be two weeks where I was, like, 'Oh, God, it's not happening.'" The only woman older than Williams to win a tour-level singles match was Martina Navratilova, whose last triumph came at 47 in 2004. The former No. 1-ranked Williams hadn't played singles in an official match since March 2024 in Miami, missing time while having surgery to remove uterine fibroids. She hadn't won in singles since August 2023 in Cincinnati. Until this week, she was listed by the WTA Tour as "inactive."

Williams, meanwhile, won four Grand Slam titles before Stearns, her opponent in Tuesday's match, was even born. "She played some ball tonight," Stearns said after their faceoff. "She was moving really well, which I wasn't expecting too much, honestly. Her serves were just on fire." Williams next faces No. 5 seed Magdalena Frech of Poland, who's 27. "I know I'll have to fight for every match," Williams said. "But I'm up for that."

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Meanwhile, in other good news for Williams, the New York Post reports that she has confirmed her engagement to actor Andrea Preti. "My fiance is here and he really encouraged me to keep playing," Williams told an interviewer who asked about Preti after Tuesday's match. "There were so many times where I just wanted to coast and kind of chill." Williams added, "Do you know how hard it is to play tennis? You guys don't know how much work goes into this—like, it's 9 to 5, except you're running the whole time." Williams noted that Preti had never seen her play live.