Venus Williams will make her return to Grand Slam tennis at the US Open after a two-year absence, receiving a wild-card invitation Wednesday to compete in singles at Flushing Meadows at age 45.
The American will be the oldest entrant in singles at the tournament since Renée Richards was 47 in 1981, according to the International Tennis Federation.
Williams already had been given a wild-card entry by the U.S. Tennis Association for next week’s mixed doubles competition. Singles matches begin in New York on Aug. 24.
She has won major singles championships — including at the US Open in 2000 and 2001 — along with another 14 in women’s doubles, all won with her younger sister, Serena, plus two in mixed doubles. Serena Williams retired with 23 Slam singles trophies after playing at the 2022 US Open.
The older Williams last participated in a Grand Slam tournament at the 2023 US Open, losing in the first round. She hasn’t won a singles match there since 2019.
Williams returned to competitive tennis in July after being away from the sport for more than a year. She won one match at the DC Open before being knocked out in the first round in Cincinnati last week.
“Coming off of this match, I feel amazing,” Williams said after the Cincinnati loss. “So that means that in this next period [ahead of the US Open] I won’t have to fix injuries. Now I can work on power and speed instead of trying to just make sure I’m not hurt going into the tournament.”
Last year, Williams had surgery to remove uterine fibroids and missed most of the season. In Washington, she became the oldest woman to win a tour-level singles match since Martina Navratilova was 47 at Wimbledon in 2004; Williams also won a doubles match at the DC Open.
In the process, Williams drew a ton of attention for her tennis, yes, but also for letting the world know she is engaged to an Italian actor and for her half-joking comments about needing to get back on court to get covered by health insurance.
In New York, Williams will play in the Aug. 19-20 mixed doubles tournament with Reilly Opelka, a 27-year-old American who used to be ranked in the top 20.
Other women getting singles wild cards for the US Open are Americans Clervie Ngounoue, Julieta Pareja, Caty McNally, Valerie Glozman and Alyssa Ahn, plus France’s Caroline Garcia — who will be playing in her last Grand Slam tournament before retirement — and Australia’s Talia Gibson.
Men’s wild cards went to Americans Brandon Holt, Nishesh Basavareddy, Tristan Boyer, Emilio Nava, Stefan Dostanic and Darwin Blanch as well as France’s Valentin Royer and Australia’s Tristan Schoolkate.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
