Venus Williams Absolutely Thrilled After Being Handed a Wildcard for the Cincinnati Open

Venus Williams was handed a wildcard to the Cincinnati Open following her round of 16 run at Washington.

Venus Williams Absolutely Thrilled After Being Handed a Wildcard for the Cincinnati Open

Venus Williams (Image via Served with Andy Roddick)

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Venus Williams has been given a wildcard for the Cincinnati Open, which kicks off on August 7. The 45-year-old returned to tour at the Washington Open winning her first match in sixteen months before her loss in the second round. She has also revealed that she’s looking forward to an amazing Cincinnati Open.

Earlier this week, Williams made global headlines after an impressive display to beat Peyton Stearns in the first round of the Citi Open. The tournament organizers had been heavily criticized after they handed the 45-year-old a wildcard to the tournament. But, she shut down her critics by beating the 23-year-old 6-3, 6-4.

She became the second-oldest woman to win a singles match since Martina Navratilova at the 2004 Wimbledon Championships. Williams went on to play fifth seed Magdalena Frech in the second round of the tournament, but the Polish star didn’t waste much time to take out the former World No.1 6-2, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals of the Citi Open.

However, before her loss, the Cincinnati Open organizers announced that she had been handed a wildcard to the event. The former World No. 1’s best run at the event was in the 2012 edition when she got to the semi-finals before losing to Li Na. Also, she made it to the last eight of the WTA 1000 tournament in 2008 and 2019.

During her press conference at the Washington Open, she was asked about the Cincinnati wildcard. She revealed that she knows exactly where her game level is and has a lot to learn before the tournament:

Yeah, the fans there are epic too. It’s going to be amazing. There’s so many learnings to take from here. I know exactly what I need to work on, where I can improve. The good news is I’m always in control of the point. The important part is to put the ball in. So this is one thing I didn’t do today. Was I in control? Absolutely. Will I be in control of most of my matches? Most likely, yes.

In addition to Williams’ singles run at the Citi Open, she also competed in the women’s doubles category, teaming up with Hailey Baptiste. The pair were victorious in their opening match against Eugenie Bouchard and Clervie Ngounoue 6-3, 6-4. However, they were toppled in the second round by Zhang Shuai and Taylor Townsend 4-6, 6-3, 6-10.

Venus Williams says she remained in shape despite being away for months

Venus Williams hadn’t won a tour-level match since March 2023 before beating Peyton Stearns at the Washington Open. The seven-time Grand Slam champion was at one time last year rumored to have retired from the sport after being away for a long while, but had to return to the tour due to her health insurance.

Venus Williams
Venus Williams (Image via X/Tennis Channel)

After crashing out of the Washington Open, Williams revealed that despite her age she feels she doesn’t feel out of shape at the moment. She added that she made sure to go to the gym while she was away from tour:

I never got out of shape, so you’d have to talk to someone who let themself go. That’s not my thing. I stayed in shape. Even if I wasn’t playing tennis, I was always in the gym. So I think the only difference now is I think I’m just tighter, but I have always been a very tight individual anyway, so my muscles are even tighter, which maybe is good or maybe is bad. But physically, I feel pretty much the same…

Williams has won 49 tour-level singles title, including seven Grand Slams and a gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She has also won 22 doubles titles, including 14 major titles and three Olympic gold medals.

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