Venus Williams will return her to Grand Slam Tennis at the US Open after an absence of two years and Wednesday received a wildcard invitation to compete in Singles at Flushing Meadows at the age of 45.
The American will be the oldest participant in Singles at the tournament since Renée Richards 47 was in 1981, according to the International Tennis Federation.
Williams had already received a wildcard entry through the US Tennis Association for the mixed Double Competition of next week. Singles matches start on 24 August in New York.
She has won seven large singles championships – including at the US Open in 2000 and 2001 – together with another 14 in women’s dubbles, all won with her younger sister, Serena, plus two in mixed doubles. Serena Williams withdrew with 23 slam singles trophies after playing on the US Open 2022.
The older Williams last participated in a Grand Slam tournament on the US Open 2023 and lost in the first round. She has not won a singles match there since 2019.
Williams returned to competitive tennis in July after he had been away from the sport for more than a year. She won one match at the DC Open before she was eliminated last week in the first round in Cincinnati.
“From this competition, I feel great,” said Williams after the loss of Cincinnati. “So that means that in this next period [ahead of the US Open] I don’t have to solve any injuries. Now I can work on strength and speed instead of trying to ensure that I have not hurt to enter the tournament. “
Last year Williams was operated on to remove womb fibroids and missed most of the season. In Washington she became the eldest woman who won a singles match at the tour level since Martina Navratilova was 47 in Wimbledon in 2004; Williams also won a double match on the DC Open.
In the process, Williams attracted a lot of attention for her tennis, yes, but also to let the world know that she is engaged to the Italian actor Andrea Preti and for her half joke about having to come back to the field to come back through a health insurance policy.
In New York, Williams plays in the Mixed Doublent tournament of 19-20 August with Reilly Opelka, a 27-year-old American who used to be arranged in the top 20.
Other women who get Singles Wildcards for the US Open are Americans Clervie Ngounoue, Julieta Pareja, Caty McNally, Valerie Glozman and Alyssa Ahn, Plus Caroline Garcia of France – who plays for pensioning – and Australia’s Talia Gibson in her last Grand Slam.
Wild Cards for men went to Americans Brandon Holt, Nishesh Basavareddy, Tristan Boyer, Emilio Nava, Stefan Dostanic and Darwin Blanch, as well as France Valentin Royer and the Tristan Schoolkate in Australia.
The Associated Press has contributed to this report.
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