Venus Williams returned to winning ways after 16 months away from active play by winning a doubles match against Hailey Baptiste in Washington on Monday.
The 45-year-old seven-time Grand Slam champion has been given a wild card to play in the Mubadala Citi DC Open this week.
She and her compatriot Baptiste defeated Eugenie Bouchard and Clairevie Ngounoue 6-3 6-1 in a 72-minute round of 16 match.
Her comeback will continue in the first round of singles, where she will face another American, Peyton Stearns, in her first appearance on the WTA Tour since March 2024.
“It was great to come out here and feel the energy,” Williams told Sky Sports after the match. “We knew when we walked out there it was going to be an interesting game.”
“Our opponents really showed a great game. It was not easy for us, but we quickly worked together as a team. I really enjoyed being here. I love this sport and continue to show good results in it.”
Williams joked that she would have liked to have paired with Baptiste, a 23-year-old player ranked 50th in the world, a few years ago instead of her sister Serena.
She said: “I felt from the beginning that we would be a great team. We should have started playing together much earlier, don't you agree? I think Serena was just in the way!”
British tennis player Emma Raducanu scored an impressive victory in her debut doubles match against former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.
Playing as a doubles team for the first time, the duo recovered from an early deficit to defeat fourth seeds Tereza Mihalikova and Britain's Olivia Nichols, finishing the match 2-6 7-6 (4) 11-9 in a deciding tie-break.
It was a significant victory for Raducanu and Rybakina over rivals who won the Berlin Open last month and reached the final in Indian Wells earlier this year.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
