Icon Venus turns back the clock perfectly

Venus Williams made a "perfect" return to tennis on July 22 after a 16-month hiatus, defeating fellow American Peyton Stearns 6-3, 6-4 to reach the second round of the Washington Open.

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WASHINGTON — Venus Williams made a "perfect" return to tennis on July 22 after a 16-month hiatus, defeating fellow American Peyton Stearns 6-3, 6-4 to reach the second round of the Washington Open.

The 45-year-old winner of seven Grand Slam singles titles rolled to her 819th career WTA singles victory in 97 minutes at the first US Open hard-court tune-up event.

"It is not easy to come off after all that time and play the perfect match," she said. "Peyton played so well. I felt like I was trying to slow myself down from going faster and faster and faster."

Williams had not played a WTA singles match since March 2024 at Miami and had not won a match in 709 days — since defeating Russian Veronika Kudermetova in the first round at Cincinnati in August 2023.

"I wanted to play a good match and win the match," she added. "It's so rewarding to come back after a layoff and injuries."