Venus Williams gets a US Open wild card at age 45 and will be the oldest in singles since 1981

NEW YORK — Venus Williams will make her return to Grand Slam tennis at the U.S. Open after a two-year absence, receiving a wild-card invitation on Wednesday to compete in singles at Flushing Meadows at age 45. The American will be the oldest entrant in singles at the tournament since Renee Richards was 47 in 1981, according to the International Tennis Federation. Williams already had been given a wild-card entry by the U.S. Tennis Association for next week's mixed doubles competition. Singles matches begin in New York on Aug. 24. She is the owner of seven major singles championships — including at the U.S. Open in 2000 and 2001 — along with another 14 in women's doubles, all won with her younger sister, Serena, plus two in mixed doubles. Serena retired with 23 Slam singles trophies after playing at the 2022 U.S. Open. The older Williams last participated in a Grand Slam tournament at the 2023 U.S. Open, losing in the first round. She hasn't won a singles match there since 2019. When Williams came back to the tour last month at the DC Open for her first match anywhere in 16 months, a reporter asked whether that would be a one-time thing or if there were plans for other tournaments. "I'm just here for now, and who knows?" she replied then. "Maybe there's more. ... But at the moment, I'm focused just on this. I haven't played in a year. There is no doubt I can play tennis, but obviously coming back to play matches, it takes time to get in the swing of things. I definitely feel I'll play well. I'm still the same player. I'm a big hitter. I hit big. This is my brand." Last year, Williams had surgery to remove uterine fibroids and missed most of the season. In Washington this July, she competed for the first time since March 2024 at the Miami Open and became the oldest woman to win a tour-level singles match since Martina Navratilova was 47 at Wimbledon in 2004; Williams also won a doubles match at the DC Open. In the process, Williams drew a ton of attention for her tennis, yes, but also for letting the world know she's engaged to an Italian actor and for her half-joking comments about needing to get back on court to get covered by health insurance. "I love Venus. We're friends. I didn't really know this was something she was still wanting to do. But I also didn't know it was something she didn't want to do," said Mark Ein, the chairman of the hard-court tournament in Washington. "I was surprised. And it was a wonderful surprise." Williams also entered the Cincinnati Open via a wild card last week, exiting in the first round of singles. In New York, she will play in the Aug. 19-20 mixed doubles tournament with Reilly Opelka, a 27-year-old American who used to be ranked in the top 20. Other women getting singles wild cards for the U.S. Open are Americans Clervie Ngounoue, Julieta Pareja, Caty McNally, Valerie Glozman and Alyssa Ahn, plus France's Caroline Garcia — who'll be playing in her last Grand Slam tournament before retirement — and Australia's Talia Gibson. Men's wild cards went to Americans Brandon Holt, Nishesh Basavareddy, Tristan Boyer, Emilio Nava, Stefan Dostanic and Darwin Blanch, and France's Valentin Royer and Australia's Tristan Schoolkate.