Venus Williams is making her Grand Slam return at the age of 45.
The American great received a wildcard invitation to the singles, having already been signed up for the mixed doubles event.
It makes her the oldest entrant in singles at the tournament since Renée Richards was 47 in 1981, per the International Tennis Federation.
Williams made her US Open debut in 1997 — before many of her competitors were born.
She has won seven major singles championships — including at Flushing Meadows in 2000 and 2001.
Another 14 Grand Slams in women’s doubles have further cemented her legacy.
They were all won alongside younger sister Serena — a 22-time major champion in singles.
Venus hasn’t won a Grand Slam match since 2019 and last played at the 2023 US Open.
But she did make a victorious return at challenger level at the DC Open in July — becoming the oldest player to do so since a 47-year-old Martina Navratilova at Wimbledon in 2004 — before losing in the first round in Cincinatti.
“Coming off of this match, I feel amazing,” Williams said after that defeat. “So that means that in this next period [ahead of the US Open] I won’t have to fix injuries.
Now I can work on power and speed instead of trying to just make sure I’m not hurt going into the tournament.”
Williams underwent surgery in 2024 to remove uterine fibroids and missed most of the season.
Her presence in the new mixed doubles will be a huge boost after American No. 1 Coco Gauff pulled out over a scheduling conflict.
The WTA is well represented by Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys, Elena Rybakina, Mirra Andreeva, Emma Raducanu, and Jasmine Paolini joining Williams.
Coco Gauff out of US Open mixed doubles
Gauff is a regular on the doubles circuit, but decided to take a step back in a blow for US Open chiefs as she is concerned about her schedule.
“For me, it was just because I know the free week of the US Open is already packed for me, for sponsor things, and it was just like a whole other thing,” said the reigning French Open champion.
“And I’m very competitive; if I were to lose, I would not be happy. So, I didn’t want to waste mental energy on that.
“Then on top of the sponsor stuff, the pre-week, and then knowing that this finished on Monday and potentially having to play on Tuesday. Well, you would have to play on a Tuesday. So I just knew it wasn’t going to work out for me, scheduling-wise.”
Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Taylor Fritz, Alexander Zverev, and Daniil Medvedev are also in the draw.
The Williams sisters have permanently changed the face of tennis.
Serena has put her feet up, but Venus isn’t done yet.