NEW YORK – It is a fact that much of the coverage and attention pays to the return of Venus Williams to the US Open, where the game starts on Sunday, has focused – and will concentrate on how old she is. After all, the American is 45 an era in which no one has participated in Singles in New York since 1981 (when Renée Richards established the record in 47 years old).
That is remarkable in itself.
And yet there is much more that is important about her first performance at a Grand Slam tournament in two full years, regardless of how Williams plays on Monday evening in Arthur Ashe Stadium when Karolina Muchova, the 2023 French Open Runner-Up and a double semi-final in New York.
“I want to be my best, and that is the expectation I have for myself: getting the best out of me. And that is all that every player can ask,” said Williams on Saturday. “I didn’t play as much as the other players, so it’s a different challenge if you are dealing with that. So I just try to have fun, stay relaxed and be my personal record.”
Williams returned to the Tour in July, 16 months after the last play of an official competition everywhere and less than a year after she had surgery for surgery for the womb fibroids.
Venus Williams is on a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in 2 years
“It’s just real, I would say, inspiring,” said Naomi Osaka, 27, a four-time Grand Slam champion. “My only one is: I don’t really like how every head mentions her age. … we all know how old she is. But it is quite the wider [significance] – How much of a legend is she in this sport. “
Williams and her younger sister Serena, whose last competition as a professional in 2022 came to Flushing Meadows, represent an indelible chapter in the history of tennis, yes, but also of sport in a greater sense and even American society.
They transcended the mere scores and statistics and win-and-loss grandbooks, and made it all over much more than that, including the famous Venus stand for equal prize money for women in Wimbledon.
“She is one of the best athletes of all time,” said the American open semi -final Frances Tiafoe. “Her and her sister, they are not only great for the women’s game, not only great for women’s sports, but they are so iconic.”
Their story is repeated: two brothers and sisters received tennis for the first time from their autodidactic father and both not only achieved the professional tour, but reached both number 1 in the ranking and won the most important trophies in their worldwide sport.
“People, I think,” said Osaka, “she should appreciate a little more.”
Osaka grew up and looked at the Williams sisters and then competed against them.
That also did many other women, such as Coco Gauff, who announced themselves to the world for the first time by beating Venus in 2019 in Wimbledon. After that match, Gauff said – only 15 at that time – that she thanked Venus “for everything she did”, and said reporters: “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her.”
“She has had a huge impact. … It is so cool to see that a legend is still playing, still doing what she loves,” said 2021 Open Runner-Up Leylah Fernandez. “It’s not, a bit, to prove people wrong, but it’s because she really loves sport – and you can see the child in her. I think that’s great.”
Indeed, asked why she would take the trouble to play, Williams replied: “Why not?”
Williams collected five singles trophies in Wimbledon and also won the US Open in 2000 and 2001. That is apart from 14 Grand Slam titles in women’s doubles – all with Serena – and two in mixed Doubles, an event where she came back to Flushing Meadows this week.
Since the Williams sisters came on stage – Venus made her professional debut in 1994, when she was 14; Serena, who is 15 months younger, would follow quickly and ended with 23 large singles titles – they formed an example for children who looked at them and wanted to play tennis.
Last month in Washington, Williams was proud to notice that three black women participated in the field when she played a double match during the first event of her comeback.
“It is amazing that now African-American girls know that they can play tennis, that that is an option, an opportunity for them to be there on the field, in whatever capacity,” she said, “whether you come to the professionals, whether you play a university or whether you just learn from the sport.”
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