Venus Williams Returns to the US Open with a Wild Card
The tennis legend, Venus Williams, will make her much-anticipated return to a Grand Slam tournament at the US Open, after a two-year absence. The American tennis player, at 45 years old, has received a special invitation to compete in singles at Flushing Meadows. Williams will become the oldest player to participate in the singles competition since Renée Richards, who competed at 47 in 1981, according to data from the International Tennis Federation. The tennis player had already secured her participation in the mixed doubles competition next week, thanks to an invitation from the United States Tennis Association. The individual matches will begin on August 24 in New York. Throughout her outstanding career, Williams has won seven individual Grand Slam titles, including victories at the US Open in the years 2000 and 2001. In addition, she has achieved 14 titles in women’s doubles, all with her sister Serena, and two in mixed doubles. The last time Venus Williams competed in a Grand Slam tournament was at the 2023 US Open, where she was eliminated in the first round. Since 2019, she has not managed to win a singles match in this tournament. After more than a year away from competition, Williams returned to tennis in July. She achieved a victory at the DC Open before being eliminated in the first round in Cincinnati last week.Last year, Williams underwent surgery to remove uterine fibroids, which kept her out for most of the season. In Washington, she became the oldest woman to win a singles match at the tournament level since Martina Navratilova achieved it at 47 at Wimbledon in 2004. Williams also won a doubles match at the DC Open. During this period, Williams has attracted attention not only for her tennis, but also for announcing her engagement to Italian actor Andrea Preti and for her comments, in a joking tone, about the need to return to the court to have medical insurance coverage. In New York, Williams will participate in the mixed doubles tournament from August 19 to 20 alongside Reilly Opelka, a 27-year-old American tennis player who reached the top 20 in the rankings. Other players who have also received special invitations for the US Open in singles are Americans Clervie Ngounoue, Julieta Pareja, Caty McNally, Valerie Glozman and Alyssa Ahn, as well as Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia, who will participate in her last Grand Slam tournament before retiring, and Australian Talia Gibson. As for the men’s wildcards, Americans Brandon Holt, Nishesh Basavareddy, Tristan Boyer, Emilio Nava, Stefan Dostanic and Darwin Blanch, along with Frenchmen Valentin Royer and Australian Tristan Schoolkate, have also been granted wildcards.“Coming out of this match, I feel incredible,” Williams stated after her loss in Cincinnati. “That means that in this next period [before the US Open] I won’t have to fix injuries. Now I can work on power and speed instead of just trying to make sure I don’t get injured before the tournament.”
Venus Williams
