Venus Williams of Lynwood, California won her first match on the WTA Tour since August of 2023 according to the WTA Tour on Tuesday. In the first round of Washington, Williams, who currently does not have a world ranking on the WTA Tour, stunned fellow American and world number 35 Peyton Stearns of Cincinnati, Ohio, 6-3, 6-4.
A major reason for Williams’s win came down to the serve. Williams had nine aces compared to three for Stearns. Williams also broke Stearns six times in 14 opportunities.
Williams is a seven-time grand slam champion. She previously won Wimbledon five times (2000, 2001, 2005, 2007, and 2008), and the United States Open twice (2000 and 2001).
Williams’s last win on the WTA Tour came in the first round of Cincinnati on August 14, 2023. Williams defeated the 16th seed Russian Veronika Kudermetova, 6-4, 7-5. Serving was a major reason for Venus’s win that match. Williams only had two double faults, while Kudermetova had nine double faults.
Since beating Kudermetova and beating Stearns, Williams lost four straight matches. She was beaten 1-6, 6-2, 6-1 by Olympic gold medalist Qinwen Zhang of China in the second round of Cincinnati in 2023, 6-1, 6-1 by Greet Minnen of Belgium in the first round of the 2023 United States Open, 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 by Nao Hibino of Japan in the first round of the 2024 Indian Wells. and 6-3, 6-3 by Diana Shnaider of Russia in the first round of Miami in 2024.
By beating Stearns, Venus Williams, at the age of 45, also became the oldest player to win a women’s singles tennis match on the WTA Tour since Martina Navratilova of the United States won at Wimbledon in 2004. Williams defeated Catalina Castano of Colombia 6-0, 6-1 in the first round.
