Venus Williams in Washington: A Queen Returns to Her Court

The way Venus Williams tells it, she was blindsided by her own desire to resume her singles career, at the unlikely age 45, during a one-day visit to Wimbledon a few weeks ago. She described the epiphany shortly before playing the first match of her comeback at the Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington, D.C.

“When I went to Wimbledon this year—I was there for a day—and it was so beautiful and exciting, and I remembered all the times that I had, and of course the adrenaline, all those things—just the pure fun of playing the game, the fun of the challenge. You overcome so many challenges [as a player]: your opponents, the conditions, a lot of times you have to overcome yourself.”

A day at Wimbledon has left countless fans equally smitten. The anecdote reveals as much about Williams as it does the enchanting environment and allure of “The Championships,” where Venus won five singles titles. She has that pureness of heart that distinguishes some of the greatest sporting heroes—the ones who don’t just sweep up their winnings after a good or even great career and depart with a wave of the hand that says, “Good-bye to all that.”

Williams is among the ones who know—or is it admit?—that there is something irreplaceable about the art of individual, one-on-one competition. That there is joy to be had there. In her first press conference in the nation’s capital a journalist, citing Williams’ age, her catholic interests, the heat and the “grind” of pro tennis, asked her, “Why, Why?”

Williams smiled and replied, “Why not?”

I think more than anything, it's just about love, right? If you have enough love for it, then you'll put in the effort, and then you'll find that little extra little bit at the end because you love it so much. Venus Williams

Why not, indeed. She added a little later, “My personal goal is to have fun right now, and to enjoy the moment, not put too much pressure on myself. Of course I love winning. I want to win. But more than anything, I just want to get the best out of myself.”

It did not take long for Venus to tap into the well of her talent that had earned her seven Grand Slam singles titles, Olympic gold and much, much more. She won her first match, in doubles, then cracked nine aces in a straight-sets win over a compatriot, 23-year-old and No. 35 ranked Peyton Stearns. She became the oldest woman since Martina Navratilova in 2004 to win a WTA main tour match.

“She played some ball tonight,” Stearns said afterward. “She was moving really well—which I wasn't expecting too much, honestly. Her serves were just on fire.”

A fairytale was in the making, but the reality of this punishing game intervened, something Williams well understands. In her match against No. 5 seed Magdalena Frech on Thursday evening, the physical and emotional toll of the comeback caught up with Williams. Deserted by her serve, struggling with her return and forehand, pressing to the tune logging three times the number of unforced errors (33-10) she lost to Frech 6-2, 6-2.

“The cameo is over,” Tennis Channel analyst Mark Petchey remarked when it ended. “We’ll see her again in Cincinnati.” (Demonstrating her committment, Williams has already accepted a wild card into that upcoming US Open prelude.)

Williams never formally retired, but her comeback still took everyone by surprise. After all, she’s 45 and coming off a 16-month hiatus that included surgery for uterine fibroids a year ago. She knew as well as anyone how swiftly tennis moves on, how obsessed it is with the fluid present, not the past, nor even the future. But she took the plunge when she announced on July 11 that she had accepted a wild card into WTA Washington.

Williams’ decision to return was bold, but it wasn’t rash. It turns out that she has been in training for some time, telling the press in their first meeting, “I think it’s a surprise for my fans and a surprise in general, because I hold my cards tight (close to the vest).”

She opened up—never an easy thing for Williams—after beating Stearns, acknowledging that she had been training with purpose for some time, determined but never free from doubts.

“Each week that I was training, I was, like, ‘Oh, my God, I don't know if I'm good enough yet.’”

Those difficult weeks were often followed by positive ones, she said, but invariably Williams would hit another rough patch. It was like that right up to the final days before she made her decision, and it taught—or reminded—Willliams of an intrinsic element in tennis.

“It’s all a head game,” she said, a challenge to which she had a ready answer. “I think more than anything, it's just about love, right? If you have enough love for it, then you'll put in the effort, and then you'll find that little extra little bit at the end because you love it so much.”

It was appropriate that Williams launched her comeback in the nation’s capital. The tournament is heavily identified with and supported by the African-American community, in which the name “Williams” has mythic proportions. The D.C. area also has produced quality Black players, including Frances Tiafoe and Hailey Baptiste, with whom Williams teamed with in doubles.

“Today we got to see three African-Americans on the court,” Williams said after the win, noting Clervie Ngounoue, who partnered with Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard. “So it's amazing that now African-American girls know they can play tennis, that that's an option, an opportunity for them to be out there too on the court in whatever capacity.”

Williams has been a paragon in a number of other ways as well, most prominently in tennis as a vocal and influential advocate for equal prize money for women at Wimbledon. It was battle she eventually helped win when Wimbledon embraced equal pay in 2007, a victory that she described as “almost surreal.”

Those same words could be applied to the notion that a women closer in age to 50 than 40 can compete in WTA tour events, yet here she is—to some, right where she belongs irrespective of age, or the rankings.

Naomi Osaka said on Tuesday that she and Williams had only seen each other in passing in D.C., but it didn’t matter.

“For me, she is, like, the queen,” said the four-time Grand Slam champion. “There’s a royal air around her.”

Whatever the immediate future brings it will not sully that pure competitor’s heart in Venus Williams.