Venus Williams will proceed her skilled tennis comeback on the US Open. The seven-time singles grand slam champion obtained a wild-card entry for the blended doubles occasion alongside fellow American Reilly Opelka, the U.S. Tennis Affiliation affiliation introduced Tuesday.
Williams, 45, returned to the WTA Tour final week on the D.C. Open after greater than a yr away, defeating Peyton Stearns 6-3, 6-4 within the spherical of 32 to develop into the oldest lady to win a WTA Tour-level match since Martina Navratilova in 2004. Williams misplaced to Magdalena Frech 6-2, 6-2 within the spherical of 16. She additionally gained a doubles match alongside Hailey Baptiste on the occasion.
Opelka, 27, stands 6-foot-11 and has a large serve. He reached as excessive as No. 17 on the planet rankings in 2022 however has had important harm points lately.
Tennis legend Venus Williams wins first singles match since 2023, delivers 9 aces
Jordan Dajani
The USTA made important modifications to the blended doubles occasion, elevating the prize cash and altering the schedule so it would not battle with the singles occasion, in an effort to draw larger names, in line with the Related Press. The occasion takes place over two days — Aug. 19 and 20 — the week earlier than the singles portion of the match begins.
The hassle appears to have labored. Additionally within the blended doubles area are males’s world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, who’ve mixed to win all three singles slam titles this yr. American males’s standouts Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton are additionally within the area. The very best-ranked lady collaborating in blended doubles is No. 3 Iga Swiatek.
Williams nonetheless might request — and probably obtain — a wild-card entry for the singles occasion.
