NEW YORK – When his teenage daughter first invaded a professional tennis tour in the late 1990s and began to acquire everything in front of her eyes, Richard Williams would tell anyone who heard that we enjoyed seeing Venus and Serena as much as possible. His girl had too many other interests to become a tennis life-giving person. At one point, they got bored of the tour grind and proceeded to ensure they control what came next.
In a way, Richard was right. As Williams’ sisters grew to their 30s and 40s, they became successful businesswomen, fashion icons, film producers and art collectors.
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But imagine if Venus said in 2025 that she wasn’t only playing professionally, but in her 45th year of her life she could experience the magical six weeks she was just as grateful for the sport as ever.
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“I didn’t have to think I loved the game. I’d played it all the time. It was part of my DNA,” she said. “But at this point, there’s a bit of love to grind here.”
Williams’ summer comeback officially ended on Tuesday. After her and doubles partner Leila Fernandez lost the US Open Quarter Finals match 6-1, 6-1, to the No. 1 seed team of Katerina Sr. Kova and Taylor Townsend, Williams walked to the net with a big smile on her face, blessing her opponents, and 360-degree waves on the crowd that filled almost every Louis Armstrong seat.
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At the end of her 25th US Open, it felt like a plausible goodbye. But was that? Just as she appears to be on the horizon for the past decade, Venus has left the door open for another comeback, opening up another chance to test her game and her body against the best players in the world.
Even after a lifetime of seven grand slam singles titles and doubles, four Olympic gold medals, and a life of global fame, Williams wants to squeeze a little more juice out of her greatest career of all time and ignore the notion that she is supposed to be doing at this age again.
“After this tournament, I can really see where I want to improve and what I can work on,” she said. “I think it’s all great feedback, but there were plenty of opportunities to play a lot of games here as well.
“I saw myself getting really improved in every game I was playing and just using up time in so many ways.”
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But at least she got the last six weeks. No, it will not go down as the most successful or important period of her career. In three tournaments at the US Open here in Washington, Cincinnati, and Williams won singles matches and four doubles. From a competitive standpoint, we don’t need to do that any more.
Fans have shown support for Venus Williams and Leylah Fernandez in the women’s doubles quarterfinal match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend. (Photo: Al Bello/Getty Images)
(Albero via Getty Images)
Just playing some good tennis was enough to validate all the effort she worked solely to get back on the court after battling numerous injuries later in her career. Williams has more than cleared that bar.
In her first match, nearly an hour and a half from the competition, she defeated the top 50 players and the recent NCAA champions with Payton Stearns. At the US Open, she gave her 11th place seed and two semi-finalist Karolina Mankova in the first round, earning the second set representing the highest level that has reached the highest level on the tennis court since 2017.
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“What I’m most proud of is that getting out of the bench isn’t easy and I’ve never had a layoff that long, and it has brought new challenges that I wasn’t prepared in so many ways,” she said. “So I’m very proud to have kept myself. I didn’t try to play another game. I didn’t play it safely. I went for it.
In the end, it will become as part of Venus’ legacy as all titles. She was so long past the point where she could prove anything with a tennis racket, everyone in the world knew her age perfectly, so she still wanted to come to work and play another match.
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For now, the opportunity is over. But don’t bet that this is the end of the way she played this summer.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I was so focused on this tournament here and I really felt there was a chance, so I wasn’t giving that idea. I’m the commitment, the place I said, and the people I’m hoping to be there for the next few weeks. So I’m going to try and keep them up.
