Venus Williams, 45, becomes oldest Australian Open singles competitor, loses

Venus Williams stepped onto John Cain Arena court as a living symbol of longevity in sport, becoming the oldest woman ever to start a singles match in the Australian Open main draw. Playing on a wildcard and listed at No. 576, the 45-year-old seven-time major champion pushed Serbia’s Olga Danilovic before bowing 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 in a match that folded experience, momentum swings and a startling late surge.

Williams opened with poise, seizing the first set in a tight tiebreak and fighting off the early rust that had dogged her return to the tour. She dropped the second 6-3 but roared in the decider, racing to a 4-0 lead and threatening to write a fairy-tale chapter in her 22nd trip to Melbourne Park. Danilovic, 24 and ranked No. 68, answered with fearless aggression, turning the match with a string of left-handed forehand returns and pressure tennis. She closed six consecutive games to complete the comeback.

The turning point came in an extraordinary penultimate game in which Williams served for 14.5 minutes and faced multiple break points before losing serve on a third attempt. The prolonged hold of serve and the pressure of closing out against an opponent half her age crystallized the match’s larger narrative: the collision of past greatness with the physical toll of time and the unrelenting demands of elite competition.

Williams’ appearance reverberates beyond the scoreboard. By stepping onto the court she surpassed Kimiko Date, who was 44 when she last played at Melbourne in 2015, rewriting the age boundaries of Grand Slam competition. The night also underscored the challenges of a comeback: Williams entered the tournament amid a five-match losing streak and had recorded only one win since returning to the tour, the solitary victory coming last year in Washington. Despite the loss, she left the stadium smiling. “It was an amazing journey on the court today,” she said after the match, leaving with “a smile and a wave.” She added, “I’m really proud of my effort today because I’m playing better with each match, getting to the places that I want to get to. Right now, I’m just going to have to keep going forward and working on myself and working to control my errors.”

The match also highlighted the sport’s evolving commercial and cultural terrain. Williams remains one of tennis’s most marketable figures; her return to Grand Slam courts draws attention from sponsors, broadcasters and a multigenerational fan base. Tournaments and promoters balance the commercial allure of legacy names with the integrity of competition when awarding wildcards, and Williams’s presence at Melbourne delivered publicity and emotional resonance that numbers alone cannot capture.

For Danilovic, the victory is a career-defining statement and a reminder of the depth now permeating the women’s game. She described the occasion as “such a pleasure,” and said at 4-0 in the final set she told herself to “just play.” Danilovic advances to the second round to face the winner of the match between Coco Gauff and Kamilla Rakhimova.

Beyond rankings and draws, the evening served as a cultural marker: a celebrated champion testing the limits of longevity, a young contender asserting herself, and a global audience witnessing how sport reconciles reverence for past triumphs with the relentless march of the next generation.