Venus Williams continues his professional tennis comeback at the US Open. The seven-time singles grand slam champion received a wildcard entry for the mixed doubles event alongside American Riley Opelka, announced Tuesday.
45-year-old Williams returned to the WTA Tour last week at the DC Open over a year later, beating Payton Stearns 6-3, 6-4 in the 32nd round. The oldest woman to win a WTA Tour level match since Martina Navratilova in 2004. Williams lost Magdalena Frecc 6-2, 6-2 in the 16th round. She also won a doubles match with Haley Baptist at the event.
The 27-year-old Opelka stands at 6 feet 11 and has a large serve. He reached 17th place in the 2022 world rankings, but has recently suffered from serious injuries.
Tennis legend Venus Williams wins his first singles match since 2023 and offers nine aces
Jordan Dajani
According to the Associated Press, USTA made major changes to the Mixed Doubles event, raising prize money and rescheduling to ensure it doesn’t contradict the singles event. The event will take place two days (August 19th and 20th) one week before the singles part of the tournament begins.
The effort seems to have worked. In the mixed doubles field, there are Jannik Sinner, the No. 1 boys’ world, and Carlos Alcaraz, the No. 2. The American male outstanding Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton are also on the scene. The highest ranked woman participating in mixed doubles is No. 3 Iga Swiatek.
Williams was still able to request and potentially receive wildcard entries for singles events.
