Venus Williams makes winning return to tennis aged 45

Venus Williams reached the quarterfinals of the Citi Open doubles alongside Hailey Baptiste. Scott Taetsch/Getty Images via CNN Newsource

Venus Williams enjoyed a winning return to competitive tennis after 16 months away as she reached the quarterfinals of the women’s doubles at the DC Open alongside Hailey Baptiste.

The all-American pair defeated compatriot Clervie Ngounoue and the retiring Eugenie Bouchard 6-3, 6-1 in the round of 16 for Williams’ first victory on the WTA Tour since August 2023, when she defeated Veronika Kudermetova in the opening round of the Cincinnati Open.

Williams, 45, gave her signature twirl after the match as she took in the adulation of the capacity crowd.

“It’s just nice to be able to play,” Williams said after the match, per the Associated Press.

“Where I am at this year is so much different where I was at last year. It’s night and day, being able to be here and prepare for the tournament as opposed to preparing for surgery a year ago.”

Williams told NBC earlier this month that she had undergone surgery to remove fibroids from her uterus, a condition she said had affected her career and life for years.

“At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter if your health is not there,” she added. “So, it definitely put it in perspective for me and maybe made it easier to make the decision to maybe come back out here and maybe play even freer.”

It was the first time Williams had stepped onto the court at all for an official match since an opening-round defeat to Diana Shnaider at the Miami Open in March 2024. Her last doubles match was almost three years ago.

Williams, who is currently without a ranking in singles or doubles, has won seven grand slam singles titles and 14 in doubles alongside youngster sister Serena, as well as two mixed doubles titles in 1998.

After the win, Williams joked that she and Baptiste should have partnered up much sooner.

“I think, from the first point, I could see that we were going to be a good team,” she said. “We just should have started playing earlier, years ago, right? I think Serena was just in the way.”

Williams, who accepted wild cards to compete in the singles and doubles, will make her return in the singles competition when she faces American Peyton Stearns in the opening round on Tuesday.