By HOWARD FENDRICH
WASHINGTON — There are many the reason why this specific victory by Venus Williams on this specific tennis match — simply one in every of a whole lot — resonated with so many people.
That she’s 45, for one factor. Just one lady, Martina Navratilova, ever has received a tour-level singles match whereas older; her final victory got here at 47 in 2004.
That Williams hadn’t entered a match anyplace in 16 months.
That she wanted surgical procedure for uterine fibroids.
And when requested Tuesday night time after beating her 23-year-old opponent, Peyton Stearns, 6-3, 6-4 on the DC Open what message others may take away from that efficiency and that consequence, Williams was fast to offer a solution.
“There are no limits for excellence. It’s all about what’s in your head and how much you’re able to put into it. If you put in the work mentally, physically, and emotionally, then you can have the result,” she stated. “It doesn’t matter how many times you fall down. Doesn’t matter how many times you get sick or get hurt or whatever it is. If you continue to believe and put in the work, there is an opportunity, there is space, for you.”
Williams has been successful at tennis for many years. Her professional debut got here when she was 14. Her first Grand Slam title got here at Wimbledon in 2000, lower than a month after her twentieth birthday.
She amassed 4 main singles trophies earlier than Stearns was born and finally wound up with seven, 5 at Wimbledon and two on the U.S. Open, plus one other 14 in ladies’s doubles — all along with her sister Serena — and two in combined doubles.
“I have so much respect for her to come back here and play, win or lose. That takes a lot of guts to step back onto court, especially with what she’s done for the sport,” stated Stearns, who’s ranked thirty fifth and received NCAA singles and staff titles on the College of Texas. “You have a lot behind you. You have accomplished a lot. And there is a lot of pressure on her and to kind of upkeep that at this age. So massive credit to her for that.”
There have been challenges alongside the way in which for Williams, none extra public than the prognosis in 2011 of Sjögren’s syndrome, an energy-sapping auto-immune illness that may trigger joint ache.
More moderen was the ache from fibroids — noncancerous growths — and shortly earlier than the DC Open, Williams stated: “Where I am at this year is so much different (from) where I was at last year. It’s night and day, being able to be here and prepare for the tournament as opposed to preparing for surgery.”
As thrilled because the spectators — “Who I love, and they love me,” Williams stated — have been to have the ability to watch, and pull, for her underneath the lights Tuesday, different gamers have been moderately enthusiastic about it, too.
“I commend her so much for being out here,” stated Taylor Townsend.
Naomi Osaka’s take: “She’s, like, the queen. There’s a royal air around her.”
“She’s one of the best athletes of all time,” Frances Tiafoe stated. “Her and her sister, they’re not only great for the women’s game, not only great for women’s sports, but they are so iconic.”
But, there have been some on social media who puzzled whether or not it made sense for the match to award a wild-card entry to Williams as a substitute of an up-and-coming participant.
DC Open chairman Mark Ein stated it took him about two seconds to reply “Of course” when Williams’ consultant reached out in April to ask whether or not a spot within the discipline is perhaps a risk.
A reporter wished to know Tuesday whether or not Williams took any satisfaction from proving doubters fallacious.
“No, because I’m not here for anyone else except for me. And I also have nothing to prove. Zip. Zero. I’m here for me, because I want to be here,” she stated. “And proving anyone wrong or thinking about anyone has never gotten me a win and has never gotten me a loss.”
Initially Printed: July 23, 2025 at 9:37 AM EDT
