WTA roundup: 45-year old Venus Williams triumphs at DC Open

Field Level Media|published: Tue 22nd July, 22:31 2025

Jul 21, 2025; Washington, D.C., USA; Venus Williams (USA)(L) and partner Hailey Baptiste (USA)(R) celebrate after winning a point against Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) and Clervie Ngounoue (USA) (both not pictured) in a women's doubles match on day one of the Mubadala Citi DC Open at Rock Creek Park Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Venus Williams became the oldest woman to win a WTA tour-level singles match in 21 years on Tuesday, when she defeated 35th-ranked Peyton Stearns, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of the Mubadala Citi DC Open on Tuesday evening.

Williams, 45, had not competed since the March 2024 Miami Open. She teamed with Washington, D.C. native Hayley Baptiste to win in doubles on Monday night and converted 6-of-14 break point chances against the 23-year old Stearns. Moreover, the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion served nine aces in the 1-hour, 37-minute match.

Williams became the oldest player to earn a WTA singles victory since Martina Navratilova won a match at Wimbledon in 2004 as a 47-year-old.

In other first-round action, a pair of Grand Slam champions claimed victory. Japan's Naomi Osaka defeated Kazakhstan's Yulia Putinseva, 6-2, 7-5 and 2021

US Open winner Emma Radacanu of Great Britain edged No. 7 Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk, 7-6 (4), 6-4.

Other first-round winners included Americans No. 6 Sofia Kenin, Taylor Townsend, and Caroline Dolehide.

Prague Open

No. 1 seed Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic held off Russian qualifier Anastasia Gasanova 7-6 (5), 7-6 (7) in first-round action Tuesday at the Livesport Prague Open.

Noskova overcame 5-4 deficits in both tiebreaks to beat a player ranked No. 249 in the world. The home favorite will meet Italy's Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the second round.

No. 4 seed Xinyu Wang of China ousted Britain's Harriet Dart 6-3, 6-3. Czech Katerina Siniakova knocked out No. 7 Elena Gabriela Ruse 7-5, 6-2. Also advancing were France's Leolia Jeanjean and Jessika Ponchet and Czechs Lucie Havlickova, Tereza Valentova, Dominika Salkova and Barbora Palicova.

--Field Level Media