MELBOURNE, Australia – Seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Venus Williams has earned a wild card to the Australian Open on January 18 in Melbourne.
The tournament announced on social media on Friday that Williams, 45, will return to Melbourne Park 28 years after his debut. In 1998, she defeated sister Serena in the second round before losing to fellow American Lindsay Davenport in the quarterfinals.
Venus announced in November that she would compete in the WTA Championships in Auckland, New Zealand, with a wild card two weeks before the Australian Open.
She last appeared in Melbourne in 2021 and has twice been runner-up in women’s singles, but lost to Serena in the finals in 2003 and 2017.
“I’m excited to be back in Australia and looking forward to competing during the Australian summer,” Williams said. “I have a lot of incredible memories there and I’m grateful for the opportunity to return to a place that has meant so much to my career.”
Williams’ record at Melbourne Park is 54-21. This year will be her 22nd appearance in the main event.
Williams will become the oldest woman to compete in the main draw of the Australian Open, surpassing Japan’s Kimiko Date, who was 44 when she lost in the first round at Melbourne Park in 2015, the tournament said.
She married Danish-born model and actress Andrea Preti in late December in Palm Beach, Florida.
