Tennis legend Venus Williams made a winning return to the sport after a 16-month break with a first round victory in the women’s doubles at the Citi Open.
The seven-time Grand Slam champion accepted a wildcard for the event in Washington for her first appearance since the Miami Open in March last year.
Williams teamed up with compatriot Hailey Baptiste in the doubles, where the pair defeated Eugenie Bouchard, and Clervie Ngounoue 6-3 6-1 to progress into the second round.
It was her first doubles appearance in three years, and she was delighted to make a return to tennis.
Williams said: “It was inspiring to be out here. I love this game and am still hitting it big.
“I think from the first point I could see that we were going to be a good team.
“We just should have started playing earlier, years ago, right? I think Serena was just in the way.
She will face another American, Peyton Stearns, in the first round of the singles competition on Wednesday.
Venus, and her sister Serena won 14 major titles in the women’s doubles as they dominated the sport for many years.
Similarly, British star Emma Raducanu and Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina defeated number four seeds Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls 2-6 7-6 (7-4) 11-9.
In the men’s singles, Dan Evan defeated Belgian Zizou Bergs 3-6 6-4 6-3 to advance to the second round, where he will take on Alex Michelsen.
Cameron Norrie defeated Billy Harris 6-3 7-6 (7-4), he will play Lorenzo Musetti of Italy in the next round.
Venus has been ranked as the world No. 1 in women’s singles by the WTA for 11 weeks, and as the world No. 1 in women’s doubles for eight weeks.
She has won 49 WTA Tour–level singles titles, including seven majors (five at Wimbledon and two at the US Open), as well as a gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
She has also won 22 doubles titles, including 14 majors and three Olympic gold medals.
