Venus Williams Makes Triumphant Return to Tennis with Doubles Victory

Venus Williams Celebrates Comeback at Washington Open

After a hiatus of over a year, Venus Williams marked her return to competitive tennis with a victory at the Washington Open. The 45-year-old American partnered with fellow player Hailey Baptiste to secure a win in their round of 16 women's doubles match on Monday.

Having not participated in a competitive match for 16 months, Williams last graced the WTA Tour during the Miami Open in March of the previous year.

The duo triumphed over Eugenie Bouchard and Clervie Ngounoue with a score of 6-3, 6-1, advancing to the quarter-finals. Williams expressed her excitement about being back on the court, stating it felt "inspiring" to compete again.

"It wasn’t easy for us, but we quickly found our rhythm as a team. I love this game and I’m still hitting it big," Williams remarked.

Enjoying her partnership with the 23-year-old Baptiste, Williams humorously suggested that they should have teamed up earlier, instead of her long-time collaboration with her sister Serena, with whom she won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles.

"I could tell we would make a great team. We should have started playing together years ago, right? I think Serena was just in the way," she joked.