By Scoop Malinowski
42-year-old Venus Williams revived her tennis career which was on the brink of disaster. Now ranked 1003, the former World no. 1 defeated 21-year-old American Katie Volynets 7-6(4) 6-2 for her first WTA Tour-level win in more than a year at the ASB Classic in Auckland.
After working hard training in the off season in South Florida, Williams seems to have regained some of the zip on her potent serve. She served 67% vs Volynets and won 80% of her first-serve points while facing only two break points.
The classic battle between decorated veteran champion and winner of over $42m in career prize money versus the striving, struggling whippersnapper, featured a tenacious first set which Volynets was leading in the tiebreaker until mother nature interrupted play with a rain shower.
The four-time Olympic gold-medal champion and now an Auckland wildcard, used her vast experience advantage to snatch the tiebreaker and then ride the momentum wave to a 5-love lead.
Williams will now advance to a round of 16 match against Lin Zhu of China.
Williams won her first WTA Tour match in October of 1994, over seven years before Volynets was born in 2001.
Williams, who asked for and received a wildcard into the 2023 Australian Open, first competed at the Melbourne major in 1998.
“I am very excited to be returning to Melbourne to compete at the Australian Open in January,” Williams said. “I’ve been competing in the country for over twenty years now and the Australian community has always supported me wholeheartedly.”
The last match Venus won was at Wimbledon 2021 vs Mikhaila Buzarnescu 75 46 63, she was ranked 111 at that time. In the second round she lost to Ons Jabeur 75 60. Since Wimbledon 2021, Venus, has lost five WTA first rounds – Hsieh in Chicago, Marino in Washington DC, Teichmann in Toronto, Pliskova in Cincy and van Uytvanck at US Open.
AO · Compton · USA · Venus Williams · Wilson tennis
