Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams is all set to make her comeback at the Australian Open later this month, after she was handed a wildcard entry for the season-opening major, five years after she made
her last appearance at the coveted Grand Slam.
At 45, Williams is all set to become the oldest woman to feature in an Australian Open main draw, going past the record held by Japan’s Kimiko Date, who was 44 when she exited in the first round in 2015.
Williams was handed the eighth and final women’s wildcard on Friday, confirming her first appearance at Melbourne Park since 2021. It will also mark her first tournament outside the United States since 2023.
As per the organisers of the season’s first Grand Slam, Williams will tune up for the Australian Open at the Hobart International, where she is all set to compete alongside fellow champions Barbora Krejcikova and Emma Raducanu.
The Australian Open has also confirmed that Williams will compete in a Hobart tournament the following week, serving as her final warm-up before the start of play at Melbourne Park.
Venus made her Australian Open debut 28 years ago in 1998, beating her younger sister Serena in the second round before falling to fellow American Lindsay Davenport in the quarterfinals.
“I am excited to be back in Australia and looking forward to competing during the Australian summer. I have had so many incredible memories there and I am grateful for the opportunity to return to a place that has meant so much to my career,” Williams said, as quoted by the Australian Open.
A singles finalist at the Australian Open in 2003 and 2017, she is a five-time Wimbledon champion and a two-time US Open winner.
After years of health struggles, which Williams has documented on social media and said ‘affected my tennis and the trajectory of my career’, she underwent surgery for uterine fibroids in August 2024.
