Venus Williams, 45, made history Tuesday night by becoming the second-oldest woman to win a tour-level singles match.
Williams didn’t let her age be a deterrent in the singles match against 23-year-old Peyton Stearns. She displayed some of her classic moves that previously earned her the coveted title as world No. 1-ranked singles player during her prime. She defeated Stearns 6-3, 6-4 at the DC Open, The Associated Press reported.
Williams took a lengthy hiatus from the sport and was listed as “inactive” by the WTA, and was recovering from uterine fibroid surgery. She said the victory was more about proving to herself that she was still one of the best, and that meant more to her than actually competing in the match.
“Each week that I was training, I was, like, ‘Oh, my God, I don’t know if I’m good enough yet.’ 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.’ Even the week leading up, (I thought), ‘Oh, my gosh, I need to improve so much more.’ So it’s all a head game,” Williams said after the match, per AP.
What did Peyton Stearns say about Williams?
Stearns congratulated Williams after the match and praised her for her impressive moves during the game.
“She played some ball tonight,” Stearns said. “She was moving really well, which I wasn’t expecting too much, honestly. Her serves were just on fire.”
Tuesday marked the seven-time Grand Slam champion’s first singles match since March 2024 and her first singles match victory since August 2023.
Martina Navratilova is the only woman older than Williams to win a tour-level singles match, with her last victory at age 47 in 2004. Williams said she aims to stay in “good health” to compete at high levels again.
“I’m just constantly praying for good health, so that way, I could have an opportunity to play with good health,” Williams said, according to AP. “A lot of this for me is being able to come back and try to play at a level (and) to play healthy.”
Williams’s attempted winning streak ends against Magdalena Frech
After winning the singles match, Williams was on a quest for her first winning streak since 2019, but she came up short Thursday night against Magdalena Frech, ESPN reported.
The 27-year-old, ranked No. 24, defeated Williams 6-2, 6-2 in the second round of the match. Coming off her single-match win, Williams said she was happy to be back on the court and competing in the sport she loves.
“Oh, I had so much fun. Definitely not the result I wanted, but still a learning experience. The part about sport (and) life is that you never stop learning,” Williams said. “I got to play a lot of matches here, and that definitely was a plus. The fans in D.C. are just epic. I couldn’t have been happier with my first week back.”
Meanwhile, Frech was also amazed at Williams‘ strength and competitiveness after time away from the game.
“I can’t even imagine how she pushes herself,” Frech said about Williams. “It’s really amazing.”
