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Naomi Osaka Had Two-Word Message for Venus Williams After Return Win in Citi Open

At age 45, Venus Williams won her first tour-level singles match in nearly two years.

Eva Geitheim

Venus Williams (USA) serves behind partner Hailey Baptiste (USA)(not pictured) against Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) and Clervie Ngounoue (USA) (both not pictured) in a women's doubles match on day one of the Mubadala Citi DC Open at Rock Creek Park Tennis Center.
Venus Williams (USA) serves behind partner Hailey Baptiste (USA)(not pictured) against Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) and Clervie Ngounoue (USA) (both not pictured) in a women's doubles match on day one of the Mubadala Citi DC Open at Rock Creek Park Tennis Center. / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Venus Williams was triumphant in her first official singles match since March 2024, making history as the second-oldest woman to win a tour-level singles match at 45 years old as she defeated Peyton Stearns (6-3, 6-4) in the first round of Mubadala DC Citi Open. Only Martina Navratilova has won a tour-level singles match at an older age, doing so at the age of 47 in 2004.

This marked Williams's first singles victory in almost two years, her first since defeating Veronika Kudermetova in Cincinnati in 2023. The seven-time Grand Slam singles champion put on a show in her return to singles competition, defying her age with her movement across the court and overall play throughout her first match back in over a year.

Williams left the tennis world in awe after her performance. Naomi Osaka, who also won Tuesday in the round of 32 at the Citi Open, simply said of Williams in a post after the match, "my queen" with a crown emoji and multiple heart emojis.

Both Osaka and Williams are off to the Round of 16, which will take place on Thursday. Osaka is set to face Emma Raducanu, while Williams will look to defeat Magdalena Fręch.

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Eva Geitheim
EVA GEITHEIM

Eva Geitheim is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in December 2024, she wrote for Newsweek, Gymnastics Now and Dodgers Nation. A Bay Area native, she has a bachelor's in communications from UCLA. When not writing, she can be found baking or re-watching Gilmore Girls.

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