Former world No.1 Venus Williams will return to competitive tennis next month after being handed a wildcard for the upcoming Australian Open.
Williams, who is a seven-time Grand Slam champion, recently confirmed that she hopes to continue her career at the age of 42 and brushed aside speculation of retirement. However, the American is currently ranked outside the top 1000 and has only won three out of 15 Tour matches played since the start of 2021. During this period she has also been troubled by injury.
“I am very excited to be returning to Melbourne to compete at the Australian Open in January,” Williams said in a statement.
“I’ve been competing in the country for over 20 years now and the Australian community has always supported me wholeheartedly. It will be an honour to play for the fans again and I’m looking forward to making more memories at the tournament this year.”
Williams made her Australian Open debut in 1998 and was runner-up twice in 2003 and 2017. Overall, she has reached the quarter-final stage or better on nine occasions and has won 54 main draw matches at Melbourne Park. In the doubles, Williams has won the title four times alongside sister Serena, as well as the 1998 mixed doubles trophy with Justin Gimelstob.
Tournament director Craig Tiley has hailed the tennis star as a ‘role model’ for the sport. She has already played in 91 Grand Slam tournaments over 25 years.
“Venus is not just an incredible player and fan favourite, she’s a great role model and leader in our sport in so many ways,” said Tiley.
“We are delighted to welcome her back to the Australian Open in January.”
Earlier this month in a video blog posted on her Youtube channel, the tennis veteran revealed that she has been working on making improvements to certain areas of her game. She hasn’t recorded a win on the Tour since Wimbledon 2021.
“I’ve been working on a lot of things. Mainly my forehand, probably one of the most important shots in tennis. My serve, the most important shot in tennis is your serve,” she said.
“I’ve been working on slicing. I slice like once per year in a match and I played a point and I sliced four times during that point which was a world record for me.’
“Volleying too and that has been a lot of fun. Been throwing in a couple of serves and volleys.”
Next year will be Williams’ 22nd appearance at the Australian Open and her first since 2021 when she was knocked out in the second round by Sara Errani. Since reaching the final five years ago, she has only won back-to-back matches at the event once which was in 2019.
So far in her career, Williams has won 49 Tour titles and earned more than $42.4M in prize money. She held the No.1 ranking for 11 weeks during three separate periods in 2002.
The Australian Open will begin on January 16th.
