DC Open comeback ends early for Venus Williams after 16-month hiatus

Venus Williams made her long-awaited return to professional tennis this week at the DC Open after a 16-month hiatus. The 45-year-old legend impressed in her comeback match, defeating fellow American 23-year-old Peyton Stearns in straight sets on Tuesday night in Washington.

With the win, Williams became the oldest player to claim a tour-level singles victory since Martina Navratilova, who won at Wimbledon in 2004 at the age of 47.



However, her run was cut short on Thursday night (July 24), as she fell 2-6, 2-6 to 27-year-old Magdalena Frech in the second round. It was also the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion's first win in singles since 2023.

While Williams wasn’t pleased with the outcome of her second-round match, she expressed that she had a lot of fun during her return to competition.

"Oh, I had so much fun. Definitely not the result I wanted, but still a learning experience. The part about sport (and) life is that you never stop learning," the 45-year-old Williams said.

"I got to play a lot of matches here and that definitely was a plus. The fans in DC are just epic. I couldn't have been happier with my first week back."


She also picked up a win in doubles during her time in Washington, but the demanding schedule eventually took its toll. Playing four matches - two in singles and two in doubles - over just four days proved to be physically taxing for the 45-year-old as she continued her comeback.

"I feel like I ran out of gas today, unfortunately," Williams said. "I tried to find the energy, and I didn't find it."


The last time Williams won consecutive matches in a row was back in August 2019 at the Cincinnati Open. There, she strung together three straight victories before falling to Madison Keys in the quarterfinals.

Williams started strong in doubles with her partner Hailey Baptiste with the duo winning their first-round match on Monday. However, their run came to an end in the second round, as they were narrowly defeated by the second-seeded duo of Taylor Townsend and Zhang Shuai.


The match ended in a tight champion’s tiebreaker, with Williams and Baptiste falling 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 on Wednesday.