The tennis legend Venus Williams is making history in her return to the US Open later this month as the oldest singles player to step on the court in more than 40 years.
At 45 years old, no other player her age has competed in the singles tournament since 1981, when Renée Richards set the record at 47 years old.
This will be Williams’ 25th time competing for the singles title at the Open.
Williams received a wild card invitation to the highly anticipated tournament, meaning she didn’t need to achieve a qualifying position to enter.
She is currently ranked 654th in the WTA singles ranking, according to the International Tennis Federation, after a series of injuries and below-expectation performances in several tournaments in 2023.
But the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion won the US Open twice and hopes for a repeat.
This is the second time this year that Williams has made history at her age. In July, she returned to the courts after a 16-month break and defeated Peyton Stearns at the DC Open, becoming the oldest player to win a WTA singles match since 2004, when Martina Navratilova won the first round of Wimbledon at 47 years old.
Professional tennis is unique compared to many other sports in that players often don’t retire so young.
The Czech-American tennis star Navratilova was 49 years old when she won her 59th Grand Slam in mixed doubles in 2006.
According to the US Open, over the years, the tournament has seen singles players in their 30s and 40s win the title.
Before the Open Era of tennis — a period that began in 1968, when amateurs and professionals were allowed to compete together for the first time —, the Norwegian-American tennis player Molla Bjurstedt Mallory set the record as the oldest female winner in the singles division in 1926. She was 42 years old.
The oldest male tennis player to win a singles match before the Open Era was William Larned, a 38-year-old American who set the record in 1911.
In the Open Era, age records have decreased slightly, but still show dominance by players beyond traditional peak years.
The Italian Flavia Pennetta, in 2015, claimed the title of oldest female singles winner at the US Open, at 33 years old.
Novak Djokovic, the Serbian champion, claimed the title of oldest male singles winner in the division in 2023, at 36 years old.
Williams’ sister, Serena Williams, also set age records in the sport. At 35 years old, the younger Williams won her 23rd Grand Slam singles title in 2017 — the oldest female tennis player to achieve that feat. She secured that victory at the Australian Open against her sister Venus, and the accomplishment also made Serena the oldest female tennis player to hold the world No. 1 ranking, according to Guinness World Records.
In 2014, at 32 years old, Serena Williams also became the second-oldest female singles division champion at the US Open.
In addition to her singles play, Venus Williams will also compete in mixed doubles at the Open alongside her 27-year-old American compatriot Reilly Opelka.
Source: npr.org by Alana Wise