At 45, Venus Williams will be the oldest player in the U.S. Open in decades : NPR

Tennis legend Venus Williams is making history in her return to the U.S. Open later this month as the oldest singles player to take the court in more than 40 years.

At 45 years old, no other player her age has played the singles tournament since 1981, when Renée Richards set the record at 47 years old.

This will be Williams’ 25th time competing for a singles championship title at the Open.

Williams was extended a wild card invitation to the highly anticipated tournament, meaning she did not have to achieve a qualifying rank to enter.

She is currently ranked 654th in WTA singles, according to the International Tennis Federation, after a series of injuries and underwhelming performances across several tournaments in 2023.

But the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion has twice won the U.S. Open and hopes for a repeat.

This is Wiliams’ second time this year making history at her age. In July, she returned to the court after a 16-month break and defeated Peyton Stearns in 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 age 47.

Professional tennis is unique to many other sports in that players often don’t retire as young.

Czech-American tennis star Navratilova was 49 years old when she secured her 59th Grand Slam in mixed doubles in 2006.

According to the U.S. Open, over the years, the tournament has seen singles players well into their 30s and 40s secure the championship title.

Prior to the open era of tennis — a period beginning in 1968 when amateurs and pros were allowed to compete alongside one another for the first time — Norwegian-American player Molla Bjurstedt Mallory set a record as the oldest female winner in the singles division in 1926. She was 42 years old.

The oldest male player to accomplish a singles win prior to the open era was 38-year-old William Larned, an American who set the record in 1911.

In the open era, age records have gone down slightly, but still show player dominance past traditional peak years.

Italian Flavia Pennetta in 2015 claimed the spot as oldest female singles winner at the U.S. Open at age 33.

Novak Djokovic, the Serbian champion, earned the title of oldest male winner in the singles division in 2023 at 36 years old.

Williams’ sister, Serena Williams, has 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 player to accomplish that feat. She scored that win at the Australian Open against sister Venus, and the victory also made Serena the oldest female player to hold the world No. 1 spot, according to Guinness World Records.

In 2014, at 32, Serena Williams also became the second oldest female champion of the singles division at the U.S. Open.

In addition to her singles performance, Venus Williams will also compete in mixed doubles at the Open with fellow American Reilly Opelka, who is 27.