When Venus Williams' bid for her first winning streak since 2019 ended with a forehand that landed long, spectators at the Washington Open gave her a standing ovation.
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See subscription optionsWilliams responded with a smile and the sort of pirouette and wave she usually reserves for celebrating wins.
Williams hadn't competed anywhere in more than a year.
So even if this tournament was over for her with a 6-2, 6-2 loss to 24th-ranked Magdalena Frech in the second round, just being out there was big for the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion and her many fans.
"Oh, I had so much fun," the 45-year-old Williams said.
"Definitely not the result I wanted, but still a learning experience.
"The part about sport (and) life is that you never stop learning.
"I got to play a lot of matches here and that definitely was a plus ... I couldn't have been happier with my first week back."
Her victory in the first round against 35th-ranked Peyton Stearns made Williams the oldest woman to win a tour-level singles match since Martina Navratilova was 47 in 2004.
That was Williams' first win in singles since 2023, with the Washington event her first since March last year and then missing time because of surgery for uterine fibroids.
Williams also won a doubles match in Washington but said she "ran out of gas".
The last time Williams won at least two matches in a row was in August 2019 at the Cincinnati Open.
In other action, top-seeded Jessica Pegula lost to 2021 US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez 6-3, 1-6, 7-5.
And Emma Raducanu dominated her first career match-up against Naomi Osaka, winning 6-4 6-2 in the showdown between past US Open champions.
"I knew I was going to have to play well and manage my own service games, which I'm really proud of how I did," Raducanu said.
"I was making some inroads in her service game after I got used to it a little bit. I'm really pleased with how I handled the ball speed and conditions."
Australian Associated Press
