Venus Williams is again on the skilled tennis tour at age 45 and might be returning to the U.S. Open subsequent week for her first Grand Slam competitors in two years.
She acquired a wild-card entry for singles from the U.S. Tennis Affiliation on Wednesday — she would be the oldest participant in that occasion in New York since Renee Richards was 47 in 1981 — after earlier getting one for combined doubles.
Here’s a have a look at the profession of Williams, who owns seven Grand Slam titles in singles, 14 in girls’s doubles along with her youthful sister, Serena, and two in combined doubles, plus a report 5 Olympic tennis medals:
Professional tennis debut got here in 1994
Williams, who was born in Lynwood, Calif., on June 17, 1980, performed her first WTA event in Oakland in October 1994, at 14. Within the first spherical, Williams confronted Shaun Stafford, the 1988 NCAA singles champion, and received 6-3, 6-4. Within the second spherical, Williams misplaced to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, who would retire with 4 Grand Slam trophies.
First Grand Slam was 1997 French Open
Her Grand Slam debut got here at Roland-Garros in 1997, eliminating Naoko Sawamatsu within the first spherical and dropping to Nathalie Tauziat within the second. Later that yr, Williams performed within the U.S. Open for the primary time and reached the ultimate earlier than dropping to Martina Hingis.
1998 Australian Open featured first Venus vs. Serena matchup
Venus beat Serena — who’s 15 months youthful — within the second spherical of the 1998 Australian Open, the primary of 31 conferences as professionals. Serena went 19-12, 11-5 in Slam matches.
Williams sisters received first girls’s doubles Slam title in 1999
Venus and Serena teamed as much as win their first main doubles title on the 1999 French Open. In addition they received the U.S. Open that yr.
Venus received first main singles trophy at Wimbledon in 2000
Her first Grand Slam singles trophy arrived on the All England Membership when she was 20, through a victory over Lindsay Davenport in 2000. That made Williams the primary Black lady to win Wimbledon since Althea Gibson within the Fifties. With Serena having received the 1999 U.S. Open, they grew to become the primary sisters in tennis historical past to every win a significant singles championship. They had been simply getting began. “I all the time anticipated to win Grand Slams,” Venus stated on the time. “This was meant to be.” She additionally collected the Venus Rosewater Dish — the Wimbledon girls’s trophy — in 2001, 2005, 2007 and 2008.
Williams left the 2000 Sydney Olympics with gold medals from singles and doubles (with Serena, in fact), then added golds in girls’s doubles in 2008 and 2012, plus a silver in combined doubles (with Rajeev Ram) in 2016.
First Williams vs. Williams Grand Slam last
Venus received her first U.S. Open title in 2000 with one other victory over Davenport, and her second by defeating Serena a yr later within the first main championship match between sisters since Maud Watson beat Lillian Watson at Wimbledon in 1884. Throughout one exceptional stretch from 2002 into 2003, the Williams siblings met in 4 consecutive Slam finals; Serena went 4-0.
Reached No. 1 within the WTA rankings in 2002
Venus was ranked No. 1 for the primary time in February 2002 and was there for 11 weeks. Serena spent a complete of 319 weeks at No. 1.
Prognosis of Sjögren’s syndrome in 2011
Throughout the 2011 U.S. Open, Williams withdrew earlier than her second-round match and revealed she had been identified with Sjögren’s syndrome, an energy-sapping auto-immune illness that may trigger joint ache.
Williams had a profession resurgence in 2016-17, making it to the finals at two main tournaments (on the Australian Open and Wimbledon) and the semifinals at two others (at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open).
Time away from the tour — and a comeback
Williams had 10 consecutive Slam exits within the first or second spherical, together with on the 2023 U.S. Open, her most up-to-date main look. Nobody knew till just lately, however Williams additionally was having extra well being points: She had surgical procedure for uterine fibroids final yr. She was away from the tour for 16 months till returning on the DC Open this July, profitable as soon as every in singles and doubles.
