Venus Williams Returns To Tennis At DC Open, ‘Why Not?’

Venus Williams
Venus Williams (photo: Wick Photography/Mubadala Citi DC Open)

WASHINGTON, July 22, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

When Venus Williams, the 45-year-old seven-time major singles champion and future Hall of Famer, sat down for her Mubadala Citi DC Open pre-tournament news conference Sunday morning, the question on the minds of many reporters assembled was an obvious one: “Why?”

Why was the former No. 1 mounting a comeback after being inactive on the WTA Tour for nearly a year and a half?

Williams answered the question with a simple two word response that spoke volumes. Smiling and with a hint of laughter in her voice, she said: “Why not?”

“I’m so excited to be here in D.C.,” Williams continued. “Playing here is like playing at home. I have an older sister who lives here, a cousin who lives here, lots of cousins, a niece, my great nephew, on and on and on. All my family are here, all my friends are here.

“The community here that supports me so much, it’s like playing at home. I’ve been coming to D.C. for a long time.”

Indeed, the DC Open is like a home tournament for Williams, who competed for eight seasons with the Washington Kastles of the defunct World TeamTennis league, from 2010-19, leading them to five of their six titles. The Kastles owner, Mark Ein, is now chairman of the DC Open and he extended a wild card entry into the main draw to Williams. It’s something he has done before. Williams, who received one of four wild cards into the 28-player women’s singles draw, will open Tuesday evening on Stadium Court against fellow American Peyton Stearns, a 23-year-old former University of Texas star, who is currently ranked 34th in the world. By the time Stearns was born in 2001, Williams had already won three of her seven Grand Slam singles titles.

“So definitely a love affair with D.C. and also a great opportunity to play in the U.S., which, you know, the American players aren’t afforded as much,” Williams added. “And also, this is very special for me to come back and play tennis. I think it’s a surprise for the fans and a surprise in general as I hold my cards tight.”

Williams, a winner of 49 WTA Tour singles titles during her career, last played competitively at the 2024 Miami Open. She has appeared in just 11 WTA Tour events since her last appearance in Washington, back in 2022, when she lost a first-round match to Rebecca Marino of Canada. In the past three seasons, Williams has compiled a 3-13 win-loss record and her last win came against Veronika Kudermetova of Russia at Cincinnati in August 2023. Because she’s been on the WTA Tour’s inactive list, she does not currently have a ranking.

“You know, in this last year, I have been through a lot physically,” said Williams, who a year ago had surgery to remove uterine fibroids, noncancerous growths on her uterus that caused her tremendous pain. “So to come back and be able to play and hopefully enjoy myself is a great opportunity. I’m very grateful to the tournament for the wild card. I’m very grateful to Mark, whom I call a friend. He does so much for tennis and the community here. I really admire him. It’s great to be a part of that.”

Last month, when Ein contacted Williams with the offer of a wild card, she was ready – and eager – to accept. 

“This time I had been hitting the ball,” she said, “and of course I love the game, and the hard courts. It’s my favorite surface, which I feel comfortable on.”

Along with her younger sister, Serena Williams, 43, who garnered 23 Grand Slam singles titles before retiring at the US Open in 2022, Venus Williams has inspired a new generation of Black women’s tennis players. They include three who are playing at the DC Open this week: Taylor Townsend, Hailey Baptiste and Clervie Ngounoue. 

“It’s incredible, actually,” Williams said. “That was not what I thought would happen in my life. As a young person, I wanted to play the game, be a champion. I loved the game so much, I didn’t realize that it would be so much bigger than myself.

“Seeing these young women doing positive things with their life, winning tournaments, inspiring the next generation, too, it’s like I could have never imagine that. So, it’s like icing on the cake, cherries on top with the nuts and all the fixings. It’s beautiful.”

The 6-foot-1-inch Williams is also entered in the doubles draw, teamed with Baptiste, 23. Together, they defeated Ngounoue and Eugenie Bouchard of Canada, 6-3, 6-1, in a first-round match Monday afternoon to advance to the quarterfinal round. Williams and Baptiste combined to hit 17 winners, converted six of 13 break points and outpointed Ngounoue and Bouchard 57-42. It should be remembered that Venus won 14 major doubles titles with her sister Serena – going 14-0 in major finals – and showed why she’s still quite comfortable playing doubles, even though it’s been nearly three years since the last time she gave it a try.

“She’s one of the best athletes of all time,” World No. 11 Frances Tiafoe said on Sunday, giving props to Williams. “Her and her sister, they’re not only great for the women’s game, not only great for women’s sports, but they are so iconic. Obviously, in this area, I mean, people are going to go crazy to see her.”

Indeed, fans filled up the 3,000-seat John Harris Court, the second-biggest show court at William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park, from first ball to last ball, cheering for Williams every time she hit a winner or helped secure a point for her and Baptiste. Among those attending was NBA all-star and Washington, D.C.-native Kevin Durant.

“From the moment we stepped out of the players area, you could kind of feel the buzz. Walking onto the court, just felt all the love for the both of us,” Baptiste said afterward in press. “I was obviously very nervous to play with her. I didn’t want to let her down first match back and everything. But we got our rhythm, and it was just great from there.”

When Williams has not been holding court on the tennis court, she’s stayed busy in the sport. Recently, she joined TNT Sports as a commentator for this year’s French Open. “It was very fun,” she said. “I think they wanted to bring a new perspective to what was happening with the coverage.

“I got to do some fun stuff, work with some fun people, and, you know, in tennis, outside of tennis. … I don’t know that it’s something I would do full time, but I think there are great moments to be involved in the game in that way, and that was a lot of fun.”

Whether Williams decides to be serious about making a comeback as a player or to move into the broadcast booth as a tennis analyst and commentator, she is still figuring things out as she goes. 

“I think I know that I want to do,” she said, “but I don’t always want to talk about it.”

In the meantime, win or lose, Williams will continue to help promote the sport of tennis in the United States in a positive manner.

“I always felt a big responsibility towards promoting tennis and also promoting women’s sports,” Williams admits. “I think that this generation can’t forget that, that women, we still have lots to fight for and an example to set. It’s so important. 

“Of course, I’m in love with tennis. So to have an opportunity to have this platform to promote the game even now is a great opportunity. I think when I go out there, I’ll definitely be trying to focus on me and not focusing on playing for the fans. I think in places like this, it’s one of the only places where I feel that way.

“I’ll definitely try to keep the focus on me and what I’m doing. But I know that I’ll love playing here, and the last time I played here, too, was such a great feeling.”

The bottom line for Williams – her personal goal – is to “have fun” and “enjoy the moment, not put too much pressure on myself.

“Of course, I love winning. I want to win. But more than anything, I just want to get the best out of myself. If I can do that, then I’ll be fine.”

At DC Open, youth is being served

Teenagers Victoria Mboko of Canada, Maya Joint of Australia and Lerner Tien of the United States all made their Washington debuts on Monday with mixed results.

• First, the 18-year-old Mboko, who received a last-minute wild card into the main draw, advanced to the second round with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over No. 42 Anastasia Potapova of Russia in an hour and 37 minutes on the Stadium Court. The 88th-ranked Canadian hit 17 winners, saved four of six break points she faced and broke Potapova’s serve eight times in 13 opportunities. She outpointed her opponent 78-63, benefiting from 35 unforced errors. Next, Mboko will face No. 3 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, the 2022 Wimbledon champion.

“Originally, I was going to be in the qualifying event,” Mboko said in her on-court interview. “Then, the day before my flight I got word that I had received a wild card for the main draw, so I was so happy. My heart jumped a little bit. Coming into this tournament I felt really excited to play in the main draw. This is my first time in D.C. playing on these courts. I’m so excited.”

When Mboko, a five-time champion earlier this season on the ITF World Tour, was asked to describe what she’s learning on the WTA Tour to be able to improve upon her game and move into the upper-echelon of the rankings, she said: “When I started playing more WTA tournaments, I started to notice from the first round it’s going to be extremely difficult. I’m always giving it my all every single match. I feel like each tournament I play, I’m locked in from the first point because I know my opponents are at a whole different level. I’m going to have to compete so much harder.”

• Next, Joint, 19, went up against 36th-ranked Leylah Fernandez of Canada and lost 6-3, 6-3 to the 2021 US Open finalist in one hour and 20 minutes on Stadium Court in their first career meeting. The 22-year-old Fernandez struck 13 winners – including five aces – saved the only break point she faced and converted three of seven break-point attempts against the 38th-ranked Joint. Fernandez, who improved her 2025 record to 14-16, outpointed the recent Eastbourne grass-court champion 68-50. Next, Fernandez will face top-seeded Jessica Pegula of the United States.

“I knew Maya was going to come in strong. So for me, it was to fight for every ball, work hard,” Fernandez said during her on-court interview. “I’m glad I was able to executive on some of the important points. My first serve helped me a lot. I’m very glad it was a good day for myself. Maya is an incredible player, tough to play against. I’m excited to see what she does next.”

• Finally, the 19-year-old Tien, advanced to the second round after solidly defeating 116th-ranked American wild card Emilio Nava, 6-1, 6-4, in 75 minutes on Court 4 for his 20th victory of the season. Tien hit 10 winners, saved four of five break points he faced, converted four of eight break-point chances against Nava and outpointed him 66-47. Next, Tien will face No. 5 seed Andrey Rublev of Russia.

Around the DC Open

Under cloudy skies and temperatures soaring to 86º Fahrenheit (30º Celsius), Monday’s first day of main draw action included 11 men’s singles and two men’s doubles matches, as well as five women’s singles and three women’s doubles matches. 

• American No. 1 Taylor Fritz, who is the top seed in the men’s 48-player draw and one of five Top-10 competitors, bids to become the second straight men’s Washington champion from the United States after Sebastian Korda last year broke the American men’s title drought since 2007.

After going 13-2 during the grass-court season, in which he won titles in Stuttgart and Eastbourne and advanced to the Wimbledon semifinals, the World No. 4 Fritz will open against No. 105 Aleksandar Vukic of Australia, who held on to defeat No. 45 Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard of France, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, in one hour and 40 minutes on the Grandstand Monday evening, behind 33 winners – including 17 aces.

Joining Fritz in the men’s draw are 15 other Americans, including World No. 8 Ben Shelton, who will face American wild card Mackenzie McDonald, ranked 95th, in his opening match. Shelton, a Washington semifinalist last year, looks to win his second ATP 500 title after Tokyo in 2023. Meanwhile, Maryland native and World No. 11 Frances Tiafoe, also a semifinalist here last year, looks for the biggest title of his career.

• Among the men’s first-round winners: No. 39 Alexandre Muller of France, No. 41 Cameron Norrie of Great Britain, No. 44 Matteo Arnaldi of Italy, No. 54 Fabian Marozsan of Hungary, No. 74 Reilly Opelka of the United States, 86th-ranked American wild card Ethan Quinn, No. 89 Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan and 95th-ranked American wild card Mackenzie McDonald.

Also, 144th-ranked wild card Daniel Evans of Great Britain, who won the 2023 DC Open title, rallied to beat No. 52 Zizou Bergs of Belgium, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, in two hours and 29 minutes on John Harris Court to advance against No. 13 seed Alex Michelsen of the United States. 

• In doubles, No. 3 seeds Hugo Nys of Monaco and Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France defeated wild cards Nick Kyrgios of Australia and Gaël Monfils of France, 6-2, 6-2, in just 57 minutes on the Grandstand. The Monegasque/French duo outpointed their opponents 57-33.

• Meanwhile, women’s top seed, World No. 4 Jessica Pegula of the United States, opens against No. 36 Leylah Fernandez of Canada. There are five Top-25 players in the women’s 28-player singles draw. Besides Pegula, they include: No. 11 Emma Navarro of the United States, No. 19 Clara Tauson of Denmark and No. 24 Magdalena Frech of Poland.

• Among the women’s first-round winners: 90th-ranked wild card Maria Sakkari of Greece, who upset No. 41 Katie Boulter of Great Britain, 6-3, 6-4, in one hour and 22 minutes on Stadium Court, in back of hitting 18 winners and converting four of seven break points; No. 5 seed Magdalena Frech of Poland, who defeated 74th-ranked qualifier Yuliia Starodubtseva of Ukraine, 6-2, 6-4, in one hour and 32 minutes on Court 4; and No. 8 seed Magda Linette of Poland, who fought past No. 63 Danielle Collins of the United States, 7-5, 6-4, in one hour and 47 minutes on John Harris Court.

• In doubles, Emma Raducanu of Great Britain and Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan rallied to beat No. 4 seeds Tereza Mihalikova of Czechia and Olivia Nicholls of Great Britain, 2-6, 7-6 (4), 11-9, in one hour and 54 minutes on the Grandstand.

Monday’s DC Open men’s results

Monday’s DC Open women’s results

Tuesday’s DC Open order of play

By the numbers

There are 16 Americans in the men’s singles draw, including No. 1 seed Taylor Fritz, three wild cards and two qualifiers. There are 10 Americans in the women’s singles draw, including No. 1 seed Jessica Pegula, one wild card and two qualifiers.

“Quotable …”

“We’re going to have a lot of fun. We’re going to compete, obviously. I think we should get a good crowd here, and we thought that would be a good place to play. Hopefully get a dub and play a couple of matches, but even if it’s just one match, we will have a lot of fun out there. 

“We will enjoy ourselves Monday night, get ourselves ready and in a good place for our singles matches, and I love playing doubles. I like the extra competition, especially if I’m playing with one of my boys who I like to be around, and obviously Foe is one of my best friends out here on tour.”

– Ben Shelton of the United States, during his pre-tournament news conference Sunday, on playing doubles this week teamed with his friend and fellow American Frances Tiafoe. Shelton and Tiafoe were defeated by Matthew Ebden and John Peers of Australia, 7-6 (3), 6-3, in one hour and 19 minutes on Stadium Court.

 

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