Venus Williams’ highly-anticipated return to the US Open on Tuesday ended in defeat as the 45-year-old lost in a valiant mixed doubles effort alongside Reilly Opelka.
The tennis icon came back to the sport earlier this year after more than a year away – returning at DC’s Citi Open – and hadn’t been back in Flushing since 2023.
But she showed flashes of her greatness in the US Open’s revamped mixed doubles format as her and Opelka fell 2-4, 5-4 (4) in a hard-fought loss to Andrey Rublev and Karolina Muchova.
The early afternoon crowd at Louis Armstrong Stadium showered Williams and Opelka with cheers as they walked out onto the court, and the seven-time Grand Slam singles champ provided some – though ultimately not enough – reminders of her pedigree.
After dropping the first set without a ton of resistance (which included Williams being broken), her and Opelka showed more mettle in the second set.
Williams survived break points at both 1-1 and 3-3, and delighted the crowd when she fired an ace past men’s world No. 15 Rublev to force a (no-ad) deuce in the latter game.
Venus Williams returned to the US Open as she teamed up with Reilly Opelka for mixed doubles
Williams is set to become the oldest singles entrant at the US Open since 1981
She then kept her strong service going with another hard hit at Muchova, teeing up the 6-foot-11 Opelka for a volley smash at the net to keep the match alive.
For a player who was listed as ‘inactive’ on the WTA’s website earlier this year, there were certainly some positives to take away against two of the top singles players in the world.
Twenty-eight years after her US Open debut in 1997, some of the signature power was still there, with her serve at times creeping around 100mph.
But Williams at other points looked, understandably, like a player with almost 30 years of pro tennis under her belt as Rublev and Muchova were able to wrongfoot her in certain rallies.
One double fault in the second set also sent a virtual shudder throughout the stadium, before she and Opelka ultimately ran out of gas in the second-set tiebreak.
The Americans had legs in the tiebreak after winning two straight service points from the big-serving Opelka, but Williams volleyed into the net at 4-4 – giving Rublev and Muchova control as they went on to win.
Rublev and Karolina Muchova faced Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori in the quarterfinals immediately afterwards, with the semifinals and finals of the 16-team competition happening on Wednesday evening in New York.
Williams is back at the US Open at the age of 45, and for the first time since 2023ru
Williams and Opelka were defeated by Andrey Rublev and Karolina Muchova
Williams, who received a wild card for the singles competition, is set to become the oldest singles entrant at the tournament since 1981 when the main draw begins this weekend.
She lost in the first round of the Cincinnati Open earlier this month but beat fellow American Peyton Stearns at the Citi Open in July to move into the second round in DC.
Matches in this new doubles competition are the first to two sets of four games, with no-ad scoring in deuces and a 10-point tiebreak taking the place of a third set when necessary.
The decision to schedule the mixed doubles competition earlier (it typically runs simultaneously with the main draw) has attracted some of the biggest names in the sport, such as Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz and Emma Raducanu.
However, the competition has also been plagued by several pull-outs, including Jannik Sinner – just hours before he was meant to compete on Tuesday.
