Venus Williams turned the second-oldest lady to win a tour-level singles match in skilled tennis, delivering a few of her acquainted large serves and groundstrokes at age 45 whereas beating Peyton Stearns — 22 years her junior — by a 6-3, 6-4 rating on the DC Open on Tuesday evening.
This was the primary singles victory for Williams in practically two years. The one older lady to win a match was Martina Navratilova at 47 in 2004.
The previous No. 1-ranked Williams had not performed singles in an official match since March 2024 in Miami, lacking time whereas having surgical procedure to take away uterine fibroids. She hadn’t gained in singles since August 2023 in Cincinnati. Till this week, she was listed by the WTA Tour as “inactive.”
Venus Williams celebrates her win over Peyton Stearns throughout a match on the Citi Open tennis event Tuesday, July 22, 2025, in Washington.
Nick Wass / AP
“It’s not straightforward,” Williams stated, “to (come again) in spite of everything that point and play the proper match.”
However backed by a crowd that clearly was there to see, and help, her on the hard-court event within the nation’s capital, Williams confirmed glimpses of the expertise she possesses and the talents she displayed whereas incomes all of her Grand Slam titles: seven in singles, 14 in ladies’s doubles — all alongside youthful sister Serena — and two in blended doubles.
“I wished to play a superb match,” she informed the followers, then added a phrase that drew appreciative roars: “and win the match.”
In Tuesday’s second sport, for instance, Williams smacked a return winner to get issues began, then delivered a few different large responses to interrupt Stearns, a 23-year-old who gained singles and group NCAA titles on the College of Texas and is at present ranked thirty fifth.
Within the subsequent sport, Williams sprinted ahead to succeed in a drop shot and replied with a winner. Quickly, she led 4-2, then closed that set.
She was accompanied by choruses of cheers. The primary arrived when Williams walked out into the principle stadium on the DC Open, a 7,000-seat enviornment that is greater than twice as giant as the place she was for her doubles victory a day earlier. One other got here when she strode from the sideline to the middle of the courtroom for the formality of the coin toss. The noise actually reached a crescendo when Williams started hitting aces — at 110 mph and quicker — the best way she used to.
There additionally have been moments the place Williams — who stated her fiancé was within the stands — seemed as if it had been simply so long as it really has since she competed, together with within the opening sport, when she received damaged at love this manner: forehand huge, forehand into the web, forehand lengthy, backhand lengthy.
On the finish, it took Williams a bit of additional effort to shut issues out. She saved holding match factors and saved failing to transform them. However ultimately, she powered in a 112 mph serve that Stearns returned into the web. That was it: Williams smiled huge as may be and jogged to the web to shake palms, then carried out her customary post-win pirouette-and-wave.
She superior to a second-round matchup towards No. 5 seed Magdalena Frech, a 27-year-old from Poland.
In different motion Tuesday, Emma Raducanu handed No. 7 seed Marta Kostyuk a sixth consecutive loss by eliminating her 7-6 (4), 6-4. That arrange a matchup between Raducanu and four-time main champion Naomi Osaka, who was a 6-2, 7-5 winner towards Yulia Putintseva.
Two high males’s seeds exited: Cam Norrie beat No. 2 Lorenzo Musetti 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, and No. 3 Holger Rune withdrew from the event due to a again harm. No. 4 seed Ben Shelton defeated Mackie McDonald 6-3, 6-4.