It was a triumphant return to the court for one former Grand Slam winner on Monday night at the Washington Open.
Venus Williams grabbed the headlines for winning her women's doubles match alongside fellow American, Hailey Baptiste in the round of 16. Together the duo managed to dispatch Eugenie Bouchard and Clervie Ngounoue 6-3 6-1 and advance to the quarter final stage.
For Williams, the victory was a memorable one, as the contest marked her first competitive tennis match since competing at the Miami Open 16 months ago.
Also, the 45-year-old's win in Washington marks the first time she has won a match since the Cincinnati Open back in 2023.
Despite dealing with major injury setbacks in recent years and not having a ranking anymore, Williams is still passionate about competing on the court and is excited about her partnership with Baptiste.
She told Sky Sports after her and Baptiste's impressive win: "It was inspiring to be out here. I love this game and still hitting it big. I think from the first point I could see that we (her and Baptiste) were going to be a good team. We should have started playing earlier, years ago, right?"
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Next up for Williams and Baptiste is the winner of Tuesday's (July 22) matchup, that will see Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Cristina Bucsa take on Taylor Townsend and Zhang Shuai.
Williams, who has 23 majors to her name across singles and doubles competitions, evidently still has the required passion and determination to have success on the court.
The American will be hoping to replicate her doubles success in the singles draw at the Washington Open, with her first-round matchup with fellow native, Peyton Stearns, scheduled to take place on Tuesday in the US capital.
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