US tennis legend Venus Williams is set to make her return to the French Open at the age of 45 later this month.
Williams will play in the women’s doubles at the French Open this month together with Hailey Baptiste, who is 21 years her junior.
The American pair were among the entrants confirmed on Wednesday by organizers for the clay-court tournament at Roland-Garros, which begins on May 24 in western Paris.
The seven-time Grand Slam singles champion will not play in the women’s singles at Roland Garros, however, after not receiving a wildcard invitation.
Williams was a wild-card entry at the Australian Open, where she lost in the first round and became the oldest woman to compete in an Australian Open singles main draw.
The American icon, who also boasts 14 Grand Slam doubles titles, previously held the No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles.
US tennis legend Venus Williams is set to make her return to the French Open at the age of 45
Williams will play in the women’s doubles at the French Open together with Hailey Baptiste
Williams lost the French Open singles final to her younger sister Serena in 2002 and they twice won the French Open doubles together, in 1999 and 2010.
However, the elder Williams’ comeback has been met with backlash in recent months with fans even pleading with her to put her racket down for good.
She slumped to her 10th straight defeat at the Madrid Open last month when she was sent packing in the Round of 128 by Spain’s Kaitlin Quevedo.
It came just weeks after she was also defeated in straight sets in the opening round of the Miami Open by Fran Jones.
Given she is ranked outside the world’s top 500, the seven-time Grand Slam winner does not qualify for major championships or WTA Tour events automatically, yet due to her legendary status in the sport she is still getting special invitations to main draws and qualifying rounds.
A number of fans, analysts and ex-players have been increasingly critical of the decision to give wildcards – which are typically awarded to promising young players or high-profile stars returning from injury – to Williams amid her declining form on the court.
And following her most recent losses, the outrage over her inclusion has intensified.
Williams’ last singles victory came back in July 2025, when she beat fellow American Peyton Stearns in the Washington Open Round of 32 as a wildcard once again.
Williams is pictured with her husband Andrea Preti at the Met Gala earlier this month
Fans believe the 45-year-old tennis great should no longer be receiving wildcard entries
After going on to lose to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the Round of 16, the five-time Wimbledon champion has earned wildcard entries at nine more tournaments – and suffered opening-round defeats in all nine.
Two of those nine competitions were Grand Slams, with Williams losing to Czechia’s Karolina Muchova at the US Open in 2025 and then coming unstuck against Croatia’s Olga Danilovic at this year’s Australian Open.
The last time she won a WTA singles tournament was at the Kaohsiung Open in Taiwan all the way back in February 2016.
Following her defeat to France’s Diane Parry at Indian Wells last month, former world No.1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov called for Venus to stop taking the wildcard entries away from more deserving players.
During an episode of the ‘Hard Court’ podcast, Kafelnikov said: ‘Have you read Dmitry Tursunov’s telegram? After another Venus Williams defeat, he said, I have incredible respect for Venus Williams’ achievements. Multiple Grand Slam singles champion, world number one, but it’s time.
‘The wildcard into the main draw would be useful for many girls. The same way Maria Sharapova received one in her time. This wildcard could have been used more productively, and I, in principle, completely agree with him.’
Several fans have echoed that sentiment online with many urging her to retire.
The veteran was left visibly distraught after another first-round defeat at the Miami Open
‘Why is Venus getting wildcards? This wildcard should’ve been giving to someone deserving of the spot,’ one user argued on X. ‘Venus is only taking a spot away from someone who really needs it to make money and keep playing on the circuit full time. Venus is already rich. She can play in Challengers.’
‘Can someone please tell Venus Williams to retire gracefully? If it’s not too late…’ another wrote.
A third went as far as to say: ‘Can Venus finally retire and stop wasting WCs? In fact, can we get rid of the nationalistic unfair scam that WCs are?’
While a fourth put: ‘Ngl it’s time for Venus Williams to retire proper. 9 B2B L’s isn’t worth it. Nothing left to prove’.
