MELBOURNE, Australia — Seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Venus Williams obtained a wild-card entry for the Australian Open starting Jan. 18.
The event introduced in a social media publish Friday that the 45-year-old Williams would make a return to Melbourne Park 28 years after her first look. In 1998, she defeated her youthful sister, Serena, within the second spherical earlier than shedding within the quarterfinals to fellow American Lindsay Davenport.
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Venus had introduced in November that she would play in Auckland, New Zealand at a WTA event, the place she additionally obtained a wild card, two weeks earlier than the Australian Open.
She final appeared in Melbourne in 2021 and has completed runner-up within the girls’s singles twice, shedding to Serena within the finals in 2003 and 2017.
“I am excited to be again in Australia and searching ahead to competing in the course of the Australian summer season,” Williams mentioned. “I’ve had so many unbelievable reminiscences there, and I am grateful for the chance to return to a spot that has meant a lot to my profession.”
Venus Williams’ report at Melbourne Park is 54 wins and 21 losses. This yr would be the twenty second time she has appeared in the primary draw.
The event mentioned Williams was set to develop into the oldest lady to compete in an Australian Open fundamental draw, surpassing the report beforehand held by Japan’s Kimiko Date, who was 44 when she misplaced within the first spherical at Melbourne Park in 2015.
In late December, Venus married Danish-born mannequin and actor Andrea Preti at Palm Seashore, Florida.
