US Open 2025: At 45, Venus Williams still chasing joy, tennis and history

TOI in New York: The house won’t just light up on Monday night, it’ll erupt the moment Venus Williams sets foot inside it. There will be tennis, massive shots and bigger serves, but the true spectacle will be the all-encompassing theatre unfolding around it.She might step out of the official vehicle at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre in stilettos, red lipstick and mascaraed eyes -- mini skirt or a red-carpet gown. Williams can dial up the drama before hitting a single ball.The 45-year-old, the oldest player to play the US Open in 44-years, will take on last year’s semifinalist 11^th seeded Czech Karolina Muchova in Monday’s first night match on Arthur Ashe. “I want to be my best, that's the expectation I have for myself. That's all any player can ask for,” she said on Saturday, on the grounds of a tournament she emerged victorious in 2000 and 2001, but where she hasn’t won a match since 2019. “I haven't played as much as the other players, so it's a different challenge when you're dealing with that. I'm just trying to have fun, stay relaxed, and be my personal best.”
That Williams is entering the event on a wildcard, 28-years after her tournament debut in 1997, is already stuff of legends. In the last two years, tennis was buzzed with speculation over whether Williams has retired. The debate gained in urgency after her sister Serena famously bowed out of the sport in 2022. Notoriously frugal with both words and information when it comes to tennis media, she routinely dismissed questions about her future. Countering queries with, why would I tell you? The only conclusions that could be drawn came from tournament appearances which had dwindled in the last two years. Williams played seven events in 2023, and just two last year -- Indian wells and Miami. When she accepted a wildcard into Washington, 16 months after her last competitive match, the sporting world leaned in. Williams revealed she was returning to competition a year after undergoing a myomectomy -- a surgical procedure to remove uterine fibroids.The American icon took to social media shortly afterward urging people to advocate for their own health.“I was told I was inoperable. I was told I could bleed to death on the table. I was told to get a surrogate and forget the hope to carry my own children. I was misdiagnosed. I went untreated for years and years and years,” she wrote in a post. “I suffered from severe anaemia, debilitating pain, excessive bleeding and abnormally frequent menstrual cycles for many years. It affected my tennis and the trajectory of my career.”Williams said, "I told my story so other women don’t have to go through this and they can get better sooner.”The 45-year-old, a seven-time major winner, ranked 580 in the world, has had a tumultuous medical history. In 2011 she was diagnosed with Sjögren’s syndrome, a chronic autoimmune disease.Williams, who played a pivotal role in securing equal prize money at Wimbledon and Roland Garros, will on Monday make her 25th main draw appearance at her home Grand Slam. “Love is the key, right? If you don't love it, then get out of it,” Williams told reporters in Cincinnati. “A lot of the motivation for me is just to come back and play in the best health that I can. I never stopped hitting the ball even when I was away, not as intensely as you would if you were playing tournaments, but I was still going out there.In her fourth decade as a professional athlete, Williams’ passion for tennis continues to shine.“I’ll always play tennis, it's in my DNA,” she said to a question from TOI in her pre-championship media interaction. “It doesn’t matter if it’s now or 30 years from now. God willing, I'll be here, we'll all be here, we'll all be hitting balls. Maybe I'll come back to watch. Maybe I'll be saying I did it better, and it won't be true. In any case, tennis will always be one of the most important parts of my life.”Once again, on tennis’s biggest stage, Williams, groundbreaker, and tennis lover, will demonstrate just how important.