Published on: Aug 14, 2025 03:46 pm IST
Venus Williams has been granted a wildcard to play the singles tournament at this year’s US Open, a tournament she won twice at the turn of the century.
28 years on from when she made the finals of the US Open in her first appearance at the tournament as a teenager, Venus Williams is back. Having missed the last two editions of her home tournament at Flushing Meadows as she battled against surgery, Williams is set to mark a return to the singles field as a 45-year-old veteran.
The older Williams sister has been granted a wildcard into the singles draw, alongside the mixed doubles invitation she already received earlier this month from the USTA. Williams becomes the oldest player to be an entrant into a US Open singles event since 1981 — 44 years ago, and 16 years before her own debut, when Renee Richards participated at the age of 47.
Williams became the oldest player to win a singles match on the WTA tour since 2004, when she marked her return to the court at the DC Open in Washington with a victory over Peyton Stearns. Martina Navratilova had won a singles match at the age of 47 in 2004.
‘I’m still the same player,’ promises Venus
This appearance marked Venus’ return to the tour after an absence due to surgery, and although she hadn’t played professional tennis since 2023, she had not officially announced her retirement. When once against prompted with the question in Washington, the seven-time grand slam champion held her cards close to her chest.
“I’m just here for now, and who knows? Maybe there’s more … But at the moment, I’m focused just on this,” Venus had said following her win. “I haven’t played in a year. There is no doubt I can play tennis, but obviously coming back to play matches, it takes time to get in the swing of things. I definitely feel I’ll play well. I’m still the same player.”
Williams is a two-time champion at the US Open, having won in back-to-back tournaments in 2000 and 2001, to account for two of her seven singles slam titles (with four more at Wimbledon to her name.) She has also reached the finals on two occasions, with her best finish in recent years coming in her resurgent 2017 season, in which she reached the finals of the Australian Open and Wimbledon, and made the semifinals in New York.
