WASHINGTON, July 23, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)
When 45-year-old Venus Williams secured her first-round victory at the Mubadala Citi DC Open over fellow American Peyton Stearns Tuesday night, it served as a reminder to sports fans of all ages that there are no limits for excellence.
Before a sell-out crowd of 7,500 fans, who filled Stadium Court at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park, Williams turned back the clock on a beautiful summer evening in Washington, D.C., the nation’s capital city, where she felt quite at home on the tennis court for the duration of the one hour and 37 minutes it took for her to defeat Stearns, 6-3, 6-4. It was remarkable that the seven-time major champion and future Hall of Famer, who is appearing this week as an unranked wild card, was playing her first WTA Tour match in 16 months, since March 2024 at the Miami Open.
First singles win in 2 years – “Why not?” @Venuseswilliams rolls back the clock, defeating Stearns 6-3, 6-4 under the lights in DC!#MubadalaCitiDCOpen pic.twitter.com/vYtzccnr0t
— Mubadala Citi DC Open (@mubadalacitidc) July 23, 2025
In winning, Williams showed why it’s all about what’s in your head and how much you’re able to put into it. She also showed how if you put in the work mentally, physically and emotionally, then you can achieve the desired result.
“It doesn’t matter how many times you fall down. Doesn’t matter how many times you get sick or get hurt or whatever it is. If you continue to believe and put in the work, there is an opportunity, there is space for you,” Williams said during her post-match news conference, after becoming the oldest woman to win a WTA Tour singles match since Hall of Famer Martina Navratilova won a round at Wimbledon in 2004 at age 47.
After Williams triumphed on her sixth match-point opportunity over the 35th-ranked Stearns, a 23-year-old former NCAA champion at the University of Texas, the former World No. 1 performed her signature victory twirl and waved to the crowd with a big smile on her face. She finished with nine aces, won 71 percent of her first-serve points, converted six of 14 break points and outpointed Stearns 70-57.
>> ICONIC <<@Venuseswilliams #MubadalaCitiDCOpen pic.twitter.com/bS3wl2XFuD
— Mubadala Citi DC Open (@mubadalacitidc) July 23, 2025
Added up, it ended a drought for Williams that had lasted 709 days, three hours and 22 minutes since her last victory, which came in August 2023 in a first-round win over then-World No. 16 Veronika Kudermetova at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, Ohio. She’s the oldest player to contest a tour-level singles match since Kimiko Date lost in the first round at Tokyo in 2017 at age 46.
Tuesday’s DC Open triumph meant Williams had notched her 819th career victory – she’s 120-50 versus American opponents lifetime – and it rewarded the 6-foot-1 resident of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. with an opportunity to face World No. 24 and fifth seed Magdalena Frech of Poland on Thursday. Williams has won 49 career WTA Tour singles titles. Could title No. 50 be in the works this week? Well, as Williams showed against Stearns, anything’s possible. Stay tuned.
Simply remarkable pic.twitter.com/BWXZzCSZUs
— Mubadala Citi DC Open (@mubadalacitidc) July 23, 2025
“You know, it’s the first step, and the first match is always extremely difficult,” Williams said. “It’s hard to describe how difficult it is to play a first match after so much time off.
“So going into the match, I know I have the ability to win, but it’s all about actually winning. So this is the best result, to play a good match and win. I’m here with my friends, family, people I love, and the fans, too, who I love and they love me, so this has been just a beautiful night.”
Stearns praised Williams afterward. During her post-match news conference, she said: “I have so much respect for her to come back here and play, win or lose. That takes a lot of guts to step back onto the court, especially with what she’s done for the sport.
“You have a lot behind you. You have accomplished a lot. And there is a lot of pressure on her and to kind of upkeep that at this age. So massive credit to her for that.”
Four-time major champion Naomi Osaka, who is also competing this week at the DC Open, is a big fan of Williams. “For me, she’s, like, the queen, like there’s a royal air around her,” she said.
“I feel like whenever I see her or Serena, the kid in me comes out, because they were my favorite players to watch. So it’s really cool that she kind of is doing it for the fans, too.”
can feel the emotion through the frame @Venuseswilliams #MubadalaCitiDCOpen pic.twitter.com/Y0ZFh8kfKi
— Mubadala Citi DC Open (@mubadalacitidc) July 23, 2025
During the run-up to her return to the WTA Tour, Williams spoke about the importance of putting in the hard work that’s required to perform at a professional level, something she’s been doing since her pro debut when she was 14 – especially now, a year after having surgery to remove noncancerous uterine fibroids. Today, 25 years after her first Grand Slam title came at Wimbledon in 2000 – less than a month after she turned 20 – Williams looks healthy. Her all-court hustle and enthusiasm against Stearns was evident from first ball to last ball.
“The meaning of this win, there is a lot of work that goes into this kind of preparation,” she said. “I think each week that I was training, I was, like, ‘Oh, my God, I don’t know if I’m good enough yet.’
“And then, there would be weeks where I would leap forward, and there would be two weeks where I was, like, ‘Oh, my God, it’s not happening.’ Even the week leading up, ‘Oh, my gosh, I need to improve so much more.’ So, it’s all a head game.
“I think more than anything, it’s just about love, right? If you have enough love for it, then you’ll put in the effort, and then you’ll find that little extra little bit at the end because I love it so much.”
See you on Thursday @Venuseswilliams | #MubadalaCitiDCOpen pic.twitter.com/l2AMqWZxlQ
— Mubadala Citi DC Open (@mubadalacitidc) July 23, 2025
