The outspoken Richard Williams, father of the Williams sisters who still lives in Palm Beach Gardens, made one prediction that didn’t come true.
The elder Williams said repeatedly in the early 2000s that Venus and Serena would retire from tennis in their late 20s so they could become entrepreneurs.
How wrong Papa Williams became.
Serena didn’t retire until weeks shy of 41 after notching 23 Grand Slam singles titles, most in the open era. Serena’s older sister, Venus, still is plugging away at 45 and just added to her legend.
On July 22, at the Citi Open in Washington D.C., a joyous Venus captured her first singles match in three years at age 45. She had not played a WTA Tour match for over a year.
The Palm Beach Gardens resident become the oldest player to win in singles since 2004 when Martina Navratilova won at 47.
And now Venus is hinting about Serena coming out of retirement, noting the two have practiced together recently.
Serena and Venus have homes in BallenIsles in Palm Beach Gardens. Serena recently revealed that her 8-year-old daughter, Olympia, is playing tennis. Richard Williams has been out of public view for years with an ailment, but sources said “he’s still hanging in there.’’
Venus, who last competed at the Miami Open in March 2024, losing her first match, showed a big serve and fast legs in beating Peyton Stearns, 6-3, 6-4. Stearns is 22 years Venus’ junior.
Chris Evert happy to see Venus Williams back on the court
Chris Evert, the longtime Boca Raton resident and tennis legend, hopes Venus keeps carrying on.
“I was so happy to see Venus healthy and injury-free,” Evert said in a text message to The Palm Beach Post. “Her power and movement were impressive. She seems in a great place personally. She is a bright light and should play as much as she wants to.”
Evert, who stays in Aspen for part of the South Florida summer, declined to comment on a potential Serena comeback, feeling it’s not her place to be advising players about their careers.
Rick Macci, the Boca Raton tennis instructor who famously worked with the Williams sisters from ages 10 to 14, would love to see Serena return to play with Venus in women’s doubles at the U.S. Open. Serena will turn 44 in September.
“We always did everything together, so of course I miss her,” Williams told reporters in advance of the Washington tournament. “But if she comes back, I’m sure she’ll let y’all know.”
The Williams sisters won 14 Grand Slam women’s doubles titles. Venus is already entered in the U.S. Open’s souped-up mixed doubles competition that is being staged in the days before the singles bracket starts. Venus will team up with Boca Raton’s Reilly Opelka.
“I don’t know about singles,” Macci said regarding Serena. “But it will be the greatest show on TV if they play together at the U.S. Open. It would be shockwaves around the world. Everyone loves to see greatness. I know they’re practicing so Serena may be lurking.”
Ali, MJ were not superstars when returning from retirement
Nobody wants to see another version of a Muhammad Ali or Michael Jordan come out of retirement and tarnish a memory. But Serena, in limited doses, could send a jolt to the parity-ridden women’s game.
Of her recent practice sessions with Serena, Venus said: “She can take six months off and she clocks it clean. You can’t teach that kind of talent. She’s just so good.”
Macci wasn’t shocked Venus won a pro singles match after a 16-month hiatus during which she had uterine fibroid surgery.
“From 11 to 14, Venus didn’t play any junior tournaments and that’s not in the playbook,” said Macci, who still runs his tennis academy in Boca. “Then she gets a wild card to the Bank of the West pro tournament in Oakland at age 14 and beats a top 60 player – just walks off the street and wins. Now she does it again, doesn’t play for a year and wins. It says a lot about her mental wiring. Venus and Serena, they’re wired differently.”
Serena’s final hurrah came in the third round of the 2022 U.S. Open when she lost to Ajla Tomljanovic in a celebrated farewell.
It was thought the 2024 Miami Open would be Venus’ final event when she lost her first match to Diana Shnaider with no fanfare or bounce to her step. That bounce was back in D.C., and her serve reached over 110 mph while an adoring crowd of 7,000 watched.
“It’s tough to explain how difficult it is to play a first match after so much time off,” Venus said in her post-match news conference. “The fans, I love and they love me so it’s a beautiful night.
“It’s about love (of the game),” Venus added. “If you have enough love for it, you’ll put in that effort and find that little extra bit at the end and I love it so much.”
Still, it’s been a battle to finally be prepared for this comeback.
“I train for two months, then not train for two months,” Venus said. “The problem, too, was having so much going on outside tennis that pulls me away. It was all about making space for tennis. There’s so many other things I can do and am interested in.”
Venus entered the event not knowing how she’d fare against Stearns.
“Each week that I was training, I was, like, ‘Oh, my God, I don’t know if I’m good enough yet,'” said Venus, whose career was slowed by the autoimmune disorder Sjögren’s syndrome. “And then there would be weeks where I would leap forward. And there would be two weeks where I was, like, ‘Oh, God, it’s not happening.’ ”
Venus has won seven Grand Slam singles titles – four before Stearns was born.
“She played some ball tonight,” Stearns said. “She was moving really well, which I wasn’t expecting too much, honestly. Her serves were just on fire.”
During the on-court post-match interview, Venus confirmed she’s engaged to actor/model Andrea Preti, who saw her play in person for the first time.
“He really encouraged me to keep playing,” Venus said. “There were so many times where I just wanted to coast and kind of chill. Do you know how hard it is to play tennis? You guys don’t know how much work goes into this, like it’s 9-to-5 except you’re running the whole time. Lifting weights and just like dying and then you repeat it the next day. So he encouraged me to get through this and it’s wonderful to be here.”
Is Serena next?
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Venus Williams wins first singles match on WTA Tour in three years
Reporting by Marc Berman / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
