Washington, July 22 (IANS) Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams emerged victorious in her first professional tennis match in 16 months, joining Hailey Baptiste to defeat fellow doubles wild cards Eugenie Bouchard and Clervie Ngounoue in the DC Open first round.

It was a sharp turnaround. Down 3-1 and facing a break point, Venus and Baptiste rallied to win 11 of the last 12 games. This is Venus’ second appearance at the D.C. event, following a first-round loss in 2022.

The 45-year-old former world number one, who accepted a wildcard for the tournament, had not competed since the Miami Open in March 2024 – and last won at the Cincinnati Open in August 2023.

“It was inspiring to be out here. I love this game and still hitting it big. I think from the first point I could see that we were going to be a good team. We just should have started playing earlier, years ago, right? I think Serena was just in the way,” Venus told Sky Sports.

Venus, who does not have a ranking, won 14 major titles alongside Serena in the women’s doubles, as the Williams sisters dominated the sport for many years.

She will face another American, Peyton Stearns, in the first round of the singles competition on Tuesday. When she takes the court as a wild card for her first singles match, she’ll be the oldest player to compete at a WTA Tour-level main-draw match since Kimiko Date (then 46) seven years ago in Tokyo.

A victory on Tuesday Stearns, currently ranked No. 35, would make Williams the oldest to do it since Martina Navratilova (then 47) at Wimbledon 2004.

In the men’s singles, Britain’s Dan Evans and Cameron Norrie are through to the second round in Washington.

Evans, who won the Washington title in 2023, claimed a hard-fought win against Zizou Bergs 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. The 35-year-old wild card will next face 13th-seeded American Alex Michelsen.

Meanwhile, Norrie defeated British qualifier Billy Harris 6-3 7-6 (7-4) and faces French Open semi-finalist and second seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy in the second round.

–IANS

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