Venus Williams returning to US Open at age 45 'inspiring' - ESPN

NEW YORK — It's a given that much of the coverage and attention devoted to Venus Williams' return to the US Open, where play begins Sunday, has focused — and will focus — on how old she is. The American is, after all, 45, an age at which no one has competed in singles in New York since 1981 (when Renée Richards set the record at 47 years old).

That, in and of itself, is noteworthy.

And yet there is plenty more that is significant about her first appearance at a Grand Slam tournament in two full years, regardless of how Williams plays in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday night when meets Karolina Muchova, the 2023 French Open runner-up and a two-time semifinalist in New York.

All of this is happening shortly after Williams made it back to the tour at all, 16 months after playing an official match anywhere and less than a year after she had surgery for uterine fibroids.

Venus Williams is at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in 2 years

«It's just really, I would say, inspiring,» said Naomi Osaka, 27, a four-time Grand Slam champion. «My only thing is: I don't really like how every headline mentions her age.… We all know how old she is. But it's kind of more the broader [significance] — how much of a legend she is in this sport.»

Williams and her younger sister Serena, whose last match as a pro came at Flushing Meadows in 2022, represent an indelible chapter in the history of tennis, yes, but also of sports in a greater sense and even American society.

They transcended the mere scores and stats and win-and-loss ledgers, and made it all about far more than that, including Venus' famous stand in favor of equal prize money for women at Wimbledon.

«She's one of the best athletes of all time,» two-time US Open semifinalist