WASHINGTON — When Venus Williams’ bid for her first winning streak since 2019 ended with one last forehand that landed long, the spectators at the D.C. Open’s main stadium Thursday night gave her a standing ovation. She responded with a smile and the sort of pirouette and wave she usually reserves for celebrating wins.
Williams hadn’t competed anywhere in more than a year, and so even if this tournament was over for her after a 6-2, 6-2 loss to 24th-ranked Magdalena Frech in the second round, just being back out there was big for the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion — and her many fans.
“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 D.C. are just epic. I couldn’t have been happier with my first week back.”
Her victory in the first round Tuesday against 35th-ranked Peyton Stearns made Williams the oldest woman to win a tour-level singles match since Martina Navratilova was 47 in 2004.
That was Williams’ first win in singles since 2023, and she joked afterward that she was motivated to succeed because she wanted to be able to renew her access to the WTA’s health insurance plan after being inactive for so long.
This hard-court tournament was the first event for Williams since March 2024; she missed time because of surgery for uterine fibroids.
“Health care is so important — and access to health care and being able to see the right and the best doctors for whatever you’re going through,” Williams said. “Obviously it’s a fun and funny moment, but it’s an issue that people are dealing with, so it is serious.”
She won a doubles match in Washington, too, and playing a total of four matches — two each in singles and doubles — across four days finally caught up to her.
“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 at least two matches in a row was in August 2019, at the Cincinnati Open, where she put together three consecutive victories before losing to Madison Keys in the quarterfinals.
Williams began well against Frech, going up 2-1. But from there, Frech claimed seven straight games to own the first set and lead 2-0 in the second.
Frech is a 27-year-old from Poland whose best Grand Slam showing was a run to the fourth round at the 2024 Australian Open before losing to Coco Gauff.
“I can’t even imagine how she pushes herself,” Frech said about Williams. “It’s really amazing.”
The show under the lights on this evening was all about Williams, whose greeting was much louder when she walked out on court toting a green exercise band. Every time Williams unfurled one of her booming groundstrokes — and make no mistake, she still can hit the ball hard — the crowd in the main stadium let out a roar.
The problem for Williams: She frequently was unable to properly calibrate those shots, including when she sailed a forehand way out after rushing forward to get to a short ball off Frech’s racket. That gave Frech a 3-2 lead.
Williams would drop her head or slump her shoulders after some misses, and she had 14 unforced errors in the opening set, more than twice as many as Frech. Fans often responded with an “Awwww” right away, before trying to give Williams a boost by yelling support.
There were clap-accompanied chants of “Venus!” when she broke to get within 4-2 in that set. But Williams didn’t get another game.
“There’s so many learnings from here. I know exactly what I need to work on, where I can improve,” said Williams, who also accepted a wild-card invitation to play in the Cincinnati Open next month. “The good news is I’m always in control of the point. The important part is to put the ball in.”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
