01/01/26 06:53:00
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01/01 18:48 CST Venus Williams back at the Australian Open 5 years after her
last appearance and 28 after her 1st
Venus Williams back at the Australian Open 5 years after her last appearance
and 28 after her 1st
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) --- Seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Venus
Williams has received a wild-card entry for the Australian Open beginning Jan.
18 in Melbourne.
The tournament said in a social media post Friday that the 45-year-old Williams
would make a return to Melbourne Park 28 years after her first appearance. In
1998, she defeated her younger sister Serena in the second round before losing
in the quarterfinals to fellow American Lindsay Davenport.
Venus had announced in November that she would play in Auckland, New Zealand at
a WTA tournament, where she also received a wild card, two weeks before the
Australian Open.
She last appeared in Melbourne in 2021 and has finished runner-up in the
women's singles twice, losing to Serena in the finals in 2003 and 2017.
Venus Williams' record at Melbourne Park is 54 wins and 21 losses. This year
will be the 22nd time she has appeared in the main draw.
In late December, she married Danish-born model and actor Andrea Preti at Palm
Beach, Florida.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
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