Martina Navratilova Doffs Her Hat to Venus Williams for Silencing Critics at the Washington Open

Venus Williams has been awarded a wildcard for the Cincinnati Open, which kicks off on August 5.

Martina Navratilova Doffs Her Hat to Venus Williams for Silencing Critics at the Washington Open

Venus Williams and Martina Navratilova (via X/The Tennis Letter/Getty images)

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Venus Williams stunned the tennis world after producing an excellent performance to beat Peyton Stearns in the first round of the Washington Open. The veteran tennis player had not played a match for 16 months ahead of the tie. Tennis legend Martina Navratilova revealed that she was stunned by Venus’ display on the court.

When the DC Open organizers announced that they were awarding Venus Williams a wild card for the tournament, they were heavily criticized, especially on social media. The last time the 45-year-old played a tour-level match was at the 2024 Indian Wells Open. Since then, there have been rumors that she was thinking about retiring from the sport.

But she made a surprising return to the court by first teaming up with Hailey Baptiste in the doubles category of the tournament. The pair claimed their opening match win after beating Eugenie Bouchard and Clervie Ngounoue on Monday (July 21) in Washington. The following day, she stepped onto the court to face Stearns.

Stearns was the favorite to win the match as the 23-year-old is currently ranked World No.35. In fact, at the time when Williams won her fourth Grand Slam at the 2001 US Open, Stearns wasn’t even born. But from the start of the match, the seven-time Grand Slam champion dominated the match and went on to win 6-3, 6-4 in an hour and 37 minutes.

During an interview with WTA, Navratilova revealed she first felt Williams was going to lose the match, but she was stunned. She then added that the win reflects the former World No. 1’s love for the sport:

I was thinking, ‘Oh, this isn’t going to end well. And how wrong was I? How wrong was I?’ What can you say — because it’s unbelievable. She beat a top-ranked [No. 35] player. I mean, hats off. It just shows how much Venus loves the game. Hope, perseverance, and not quitting.

Williams has been winning tennis matches for decades. She made her professional debut at the Bank of the West Classic at just 14 years old in 1994. Her first major title success came at the Wimbledon Championship in 2000, just less than a month after her 20th birthday. She hopes to continue winning at Washington when she takes on Magdalena Frech in the second round.

Venus Williams awarded a wildcard for the Cincinnati Open

Venus Williams has been handed a wildcard for the Cincinnati Open, which kicks off next month. This comes just after she stunned Peyton Stearns and became the second-oldest player to win a tour-level match in the WTA since Martina Navratilova at the 2004 Wimbledon, when she was 47 years old.

Venus Williams (2)
Venus Williams (Image via Served with Andy Roddick)

Also, it means Williams is targeting a return to the US Open as Cincinnati precedes the Grand Slam event. However, it is yet to be announced that she has been awarded a wildcard for the prestigious event. But, she’s on the entry list to compete at the US Open mixed doubles tournament with partner Reilly Opelka.

Aryna Sabalenka leads the Cincinnati Open list as World No.1 and defending champion, having claimed the title last year after defeating Jessica Pegula in straight sets. The tournament is set to kick off on August 5, with the main draw starting two days later, while the final will be played on August 18.

Sabalenka withdrew from the Canadian Open in Toronto just days after her surprising defeat at the Wimbledon Championship semi-finals. The Belarusian has reached seven tour-level finals this season, but has only won three of them.

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