Venus Williams is at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in two years. The American is 45, an age at which no one has competed in singles at the US Open since 1981.

There is plenty more that is significant regardless of how Williams plays on Arthur Ashe Stadium Monday night – midnight in the UK live on Sky Sports – when she meets Karolina Muchova, the 2023 French Open runner-up and a two-time semi-finalist in New York.

All of this is happening shortly after Williams made it back to the tour 16 months after playing an official match anywhere and less than a year after she had surgery for uterine fibroids.

Williams reached the final on her debut back in 1997, well before a lot of her fellow competitors were born, while this year marks the 25th anniversary of her first singles title.

Speaking to the media at Flushing Meadows, Williams admits she may not have played as much as other players, but she is ready to give 100 per cent when she takes to the court on what’s sure to be an emotional homecoming.

“I want to be my best and that’s the expectation I have for myself, to get the best out of me, and that’s all any player can ask for,” said Williams, who in 2000 became the first black woman since Althea Gibson in the 1950s to win the Wimbledon title.

“I haven’t played as much as the other players, so it’s a different challenge when you’re dealing with that. So I’m just trying to have fun, stay relaxed, and be my personal best.”

It remains to be seen whether this will be Williams’ final appearance in the draw here, but she has no intention of hanging up her racket any time soon.

“I think I’ll always play tennis,” she said. “It’s in my DNA. So it doesn’t matter if it’s now or 30 years from now, God willing, I’ll be here, we’ll all be here, we’ll all be hitting balls.

“Maybe I’ll come back to watch. Maybe I’ll be saying I did it better, and it won’t be true. But, in any case, tennis will always be one of the most important parts of my life.”

In Washington, Williams competed for the first time since March 2024 at the Miami Open and became the oldest woman to win a tour-level singles match since Martina Navratilova was 47 at Wimbledon in 2004.

Williams and her younger sister Serena represent an indelible chapter in the history of tennis, but also of sports in a greater sense and even American society.

They transcended the mere scores and stats and win-and-loss ledgers, and made it all about far more than that, including Venus’ famous stand in favour of equal prize money for women at Wimbledon.

“She’s one of the best athletes of all time,” two-time US Open semi-finalist Frances Tiafoe said. “Her and her sister, they’re not only great for the women’s game, not only great for women’s sports, but they are so iconic.”

‘Not even Venus knows when the end will come’

Sky Sports’ presenter Gigi Salmon admits being surprised by Williams’ wildcard in New York and finds it “remarkable” she still had the desire to compete when retirement seemed to be her next step.

“I was definitely among those who after watching Venus Williams in her two appearances in 2024 in Indian Wells and Miami, thought that the next news from the Williams camp would be to announce her retirement from professional tennis,” she said.

“After a phenomenal career that has broken down barriers and resulted in a haul of 49 singles titles, seven of them in Grand Slams what more was there left to achieve.

“Then came the news that Williams who was listed as ‘inactive’ on the WTA website which meant she didn’t have a ranking, had accepted a wildcard into Washington in what would be her first competitive match in 16 months.

“A win over Peyton Stearns, her first since Cincinnati in August 2023 and admissions of difficult times with illness and injury off the court, shed some light on what was motivating Williams to return at the age of 45, it was clear that while energy levels were low the desire and shoots of optimism in how she is playing and what more there is to come is there.

“It will be her 25th US Open, winning the title in 1999 and 2009 and we must just make sure that we appreciate her on the tennis court while we can as it’s truly remarkable that after all these years she still has the desire and drive to compete and with no one and maybe not even Venus knowing when the end will come!”

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