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Venus Williams Will set age record australian open when she competes in the first round on Sunday.
The fact is that she will The oldest contestant ever She didn’t realize she could win the Australian Open women’s singles draw at the age of 45 until she was awarded a wild card to the year’s first Grand Slam tournament for the first time in five years.
“I didn’t think about it until the news came out,” she said at the end of Saturday’s pregame press conference. “So yeah. Yeah for me! Let’s do it.”
She then left the auditorium, holding hands with her husband Andrea Preti, and walked back to the players’ area along the corridor, not quite how she remembered 2021, her 21st playing at Melbourne Park.
Williams, who got married in December, said celebrations were her top priority between the first two big tournaments after her return to the tour, which began last July.
In 1998, at the age of 17, she participated in the Australian Open for the first time, reaching the quarter-finals of her fourth Grand Slam event and reaching the final of the US Open.
“It was a great time because there was a lot I didn’t know,” she said when asked to reflect on her first trip. “But not knowing is a good thing because it gives you a fresh start. There was so much I had to learn, and I learned it.”
“That’s the nature of sport – you’re constantly racing towards the finish line and while there’s nothing to prove, it’s all about attitude and effort. No one can control that. Controlling that part is the real victory.”
Williams, who lost her Grand Slam comeback match at the U.S. Open last August, will face Olga Danilovic, a 24-year-old left-hander from Serbia, in her final match at John Cain Arena on Sunday.
Danilovic, ranked 68th, is playing in her 11th Grand Slam tournament and her third in Australia, where she reached the fourth round last year, tying her best result in a Grand Slam tournament.
Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam winner, is ranked 576th due to limited tour time. She lost in the first round of the 2026 opening warm-up tournament in New Zealand and Hobart. If she can get her first win of the year on Sunday, she could face the No. 3 seed Coco Gough In the second round.
“At this point, I need to be kind to myself because I’ve done a lot of things right, but, you know, my game has been lacking,” she said. “So I played well. I prepared every point to win points and control points.
“This is exactly how I want to play, I’m playing the tennis I need to play.”