In her first singles match in 16 months, Venus Williams made one thing clear: she’s not done yet. The 45-year-old former World No. 1 returned to the WTA Tour in style at the Mubadala Citi DC Open on Tuesday night, cruising past World No. 35 Peyton Stearns 6-3, 6-4 in a clean, commanding performance. It was an all-American first-round clash, but it was Venus who walked away with the statement win. She took 1 hour and 37 minutes to wrap things up and seal her first tour-level singles victory since Cincinnati in 2023. And it has even her brother-in-law Alexis Ohanian applauding!

That win was no small feat. Stearns, at 23, is more than two decades younger and ranked inside the Top 40. But that didn’t stop Venus from pulling off another career highlight. With this win, the 7-time Grand Slam champion becomes the oldest player to win a singles match on tour since Martina Navratilova beat Catalina Castano at Wimbledon in 2004. Navratilova was 47 back then.

Her last singles victory came against Veronika Kudermetova, then ranked World No. 16, in Cincinnati in 2023. That means her last two wins have both come against Top 35 players, and they were nearly two years apart.

Naturally, it was a moment that caught everyone’s attention. Though Serena Williams hasn’t publicly celebrated this achievement, one of the first to praise Venus was her brother-in-law Alexis Ohanian, who shared a post on his Instagram Story cheering Venus on. “LFG @venuswilliams,” he wrote, alongside a picture highlighting her victory.

Ohanian has always had Venus’ back. While most know him as Serena Williams’ husband, his support for Venus has been just as consistent. He’s always been part of her corner, publicly cheering her achievements and milestones. And it’s not just on the court. Ohanian supported her when she published her second book, ‘Strive: 8 Steps to Find Your Awesome’ in 2024. “A huge shoutout to my amazing sis Venus Williams. Her new book is out, I just got my copy, that’s right I bought my own. I will get it autographed by her though,” he said.

The Reddit co-founder even calls her “V” sometimes. Ever since he became part of the Williams family in 2017, he’s embraced Venus like a sister. The respect and admiration within the Williams family has always run deep. Even with years of intense competition between the two, Venus and Serena have remained close.

And now, Venus wants her sister back beside her.

Venus Williams might inspire Serena Williams to come back

Serena Williams, who last played professionally at the 2022 US Open, is still hitting the ball like she never left. She recently posted a video showing off those same powerful groundstrokes that haunted opponents for decades. It stirred up talks of a possible comeback.

“I mean, I keep saying to my team: ‘The only thing that would make this better is if she was here,’ like we always did everything together, so of course I miss her,” Venus Williams told reporters ahead of her return, per the Associated Press. But the 45-year-old is staying quiet about any insider scoop. “If she comes back, I’m sure she’ll let y’all know,” she added.

When asked how ready Serena still looks, Venus didn’t hold back and 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. I don’t know what she’s going to do. I don’t ask those questions. I think we always hit the ball because that’s who we are, we’re always hitting.”

Meanwhile, Venus isn’t slowing down. She will face 5th seed Magdalena Fręch next in the second round on Thursday. She’s also in the doubles draw, partnering with fellow American Hailey Baptiste. The pair won their first-round match against Eugenie Bouchard and Clervie Ngounoue and are set to take on Taylor Townsend and Zhang Shuai on Wednesday.

Venus may be 45, but she’s still racking up wins and writing her own story. And who knows, she might just inspire one more comeback.