Venus Williams made a winning return to singles tennis on Tuesday night after being away for 16 months. The 45-year-old beat fellow American Peyton Stearns 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of the DC Open in Washington.
It was Williams’ first singles win in almost two years. She now has 819 career singles wins and becomes the oldest WTA match winner since Martina Navratilova in 2004.
“It’s not easy coming back after so long and playing well straight away,” said Williams. “Peyton played great, and I had to control my own pace.”
She last played singles in March 2024 and hadn’t won a match since August 2023. Her win over Stearns sets up a second-round match against Poland’s Magdalena Frech.
Williams thanked the crowd for their support: “You don’t know how much effort goes into this; it’s like a full-time job, but with lots of running and training!”
In other matches, Japan’s Naomi Osaka beat Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva 6-2, 7-5. She will now face Britain’s Emma Raducanu, who won her match against Marta Kostyuk 7-6, 6-4.
“I’m excited to play Emma,” said Osaka. “We’ve never faced each other before, and I know she’s a great player.”
Raducanu added: “It’s going to be a great challenge for me.”
On the men’s side, Britain’s Cameron Norrie came from behind to beat world number seven Lorenzo Musetti 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. It was his first win over a top-10 player in over two years.
“I made things tough for him,” Norrie said. “I’m really enjoying my tennis again.”
He now faces American Brandon Nakashima in the next round.
