Venus Williams will appear in her 25th US Open singles at age 45, ranked No 610, and will face Karolina Muchova, the Czech 11th seed. She debuted at 17 in 1997 and became the first unseeded Open-era finalist. She has won seven Grand Slam singles titles (five Wimbledon, two US Open), 14 doubles crowns with her sister, been world No 1 in singles and doubles, won four Olympic gold medals, and earned about $43m in prize money. After a 16-month hiatus including surgery for uterine fibroids, she returned in July at the Washington Open and defeated Peyton Stearns amid significant public interest.
Venus Williams will take the court on Monday night for her record-extending 25th US Open singles appearance, the Here We Go Again meme brought to life, quite literally as enduring a part of the Flushing Meadows iconography as Arthur Ashe Stadium itself. At 45, two years removed from her last grand slam match and ranked No 610 in the world, she will face Karolina Muchova, the Czech 11th seed and 2023 French Open runner-up who has twice reached the semi-finals in New York.
She's the winner of seven grand slam singles titles five at Wimbledon, two at the US Open to go with 14 doubles crowns alongside her younger sister. She has been world No 1 in singles and doubles, won four Olympic gold medals and brought in roughly $43m in prize money with countless more from endorsements and outside endeavors. Given her preposterous longevity and pan-cultural resonance, it would not be hyperbolic to call her one of the five most famous active sportspeople on the planet.
Yet here she is again, after a 16-month hiatus that included surgery for uterine fibroids and long spells of doubt. She returned in July at the Washington Open where she drew overflow crowds that included NBA star Kevin Durant and knocked off Peyton Stearns, the world No 35. It offered a flicker of the old fire, a reminder that her classic first-strike game big serve, flat drives, all-co
Collection
[
|
...
]