At 45, Venus (Still) Rising: ‘Winning, Losing Knows No Age’

Seven-Time Slam Champ Relishing Return To Court

By Richard Osborn

It was a busy Halloween along Interstate 880 in Oakland, Calif., back in 1994.

The Rolling Stones were booked at the old Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, and just across the parking lot, Venus Williams, 14 years old and all smiles, her hair full of beads, was making her much-anticipated professional tennis debut at the Bank of the West Classic.

Williams, a much-hyped young talent, was busy launching her career with a 6-3, 6-4 upset of former NCAA singles titlist Shaun Stafford. There wasn’t much time to take in a rock concert.

“I still haven’t seen the Rolling Stones,” laughed Williams on Wednesday ahead of the Cincinnati Open, where she’s appearing for the 11th time. “They didn’t know that I was playing next door. They still don’t know. So, Mick Jagger, my message to you is, I was playing my first professional match next to you. I don’t know how I won, because I didn’t know anything. Maybe my opponent contributed to it. Who knows? I don’t even know where you can find footage of that match. It was a beautiful thing though, a great start.”

Venus, along with her sister Serena, of course, would go on to transform their livelihood, shaking up a sport that for far too long had been mired in its country-club roots. She would rise to No. 1 and claim seven Grand Slam singles titles (five coming on the lawns of Wimbledon), 14 major doubles titles, and four Olympic gold medals. If it surprised any of us that a kid from Compton, Calif., could accomplish all that, it didn’t surprise her in the least. Even on that long-ago Halloween, Williams seemed to understand that she was destined for sports immortality.

“I think I was very aware of what I wanted and where I wanted to be with my goals,” said the wildcard Williams, who will open her 2025 Cincinnati Open campaign against Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro. “That was hammered into my head as a child from my parents. We put in the work, but we also put in the mental work. It was almost a progression, like, ‘Okay, the time has finally arrived: This is your first step towards all the other steps.’ Of course, anything and everything could have gone wrong, but thank god it didn’t.”

Not that Williams hasn’t faced any challenges, especially on the health front. In 2011, she was diagnosed with Sjögren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disease that often left her aching and fatigued. Last month, Williams, now 45, returned to the courts after a 16-month hiatus after undergoing surgery for uterine fibroids. At the Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington, she defeated fellow American Peyton Stearns, 6-3, 6-4, to become the oldest player to win a WTA Tour singles match in more than two decades.

For a player who wasn’t sure she would ever compete at the tour level again, it was an emotional moment.

“After my surgery, I couldn’t even stand up straight,” explained Williams, the winner of more than 800 career matches. “There was definitely a progression. Tennis was in the back of my mind, but I felt like I had time, as strange as that sounds. I feel like I had time to get well.”

“I was feeling so much gratitude that I was able to have the resources to finally get through that,” she continued. “I was nowhere near playing professional tennis, but a year later, I’m in a completely different space, and I have a clean bill of health.”

Williams is often asked what keeps her coming back for more; why she hasn’t followed her younger sister into retirement. The answer is simple. She still loves the compete the way she did when she made that debut in Oakland more than 30 years ago.

“I want to live life the way I want to, unapologetically, with no regrets, on my terms.”

“Love is the key, right? If you don’t love it, then get out of it, if you can, if you have that luxury. Not everyone has that luxury. For me, I think a lot of the motivation is just to come back and try to play in the best health that I can. I never stopped hitting the ball, even when I was away.”

“At the end of the day, you have to live your life on your own terms. Your terms should be yours. It doesn’t matter what anyone else says or what anyone else thinks, if you get to live life on your own terms, it’s a life well lived. I firmly believe in that. I do what I do because I want to live life the way I want to, unapologetically, with no regrets, on my terms. Do my terms always come out the way I want them to? No, but at least I tried to live on my own terms. That’s super-important to me. That would be my advice: Make your terms and don’t surrender.”

Last month, Williams confirmed her engagement to Italian actor/model Andrea Preti. She’s suddenly juggling her tennis career with some wedding planning.  

“I’m used to multitasking,” she said. “I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”

Until her wedding day, and perhaps beyond, Williams says she will keep doing what she loves most, regardless of her age.

“There’s one thing I know, you’re never too young or too old to win or lose,” she said. “Winning and losing knows no age. All that matters for me is that I’m prepared and ready.”