{"id":7272,"date":"2026-01-02T12:13:04","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T12:13:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=7272"},"modified":"2026-01-02T12:13:04","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T12:13:04","slug":"venus-williams-gets-australian-open-wildcard-aged-45-tennis-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=7272","title":{"rendered":"Venus Williams gets Australian Open wildcard aged 45 | Tennis News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>United States tennis legend Venus Williams returns to the Australian Open for the first time since 2021.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 2 Jan 2026<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">2 Jan 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Seven-time major singles champion Venus Williams has been handed a wildcard to the Australian Open aged 45, becoming the oldest woman to play at the season-opening tennis Grand Slam.<\/p>\n<p>The American, who has played only a limited number of singles matches in recent years, will compete in the main draw at Melbourne Park for the first time since 2021.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 4 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m excited to be back in Australia and looking forward to competing during the Australian summer,\u201d Williams said on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve had so many incredible memories there and I\u2019m grateful for the opportunity to return to a place that has meant so much to my career.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Williams is a five-time Wimbledon champion and also won two US Opens.<\/p>\n<p>She was an Australian Open singles finalist in 2003 and 2017.<\/p>\n<p>She will become the oldest woman to play at the Australian Open since Japan\u2019s Kimiko Date, who was 44 when she lost in the first round in 2015.<\/p>\n<p>Williams, a four-time Australian Open doubles champion, is set to begin her preparations for the January 18-February 1 tournament at the Auckland Classic next week, having returned to the circuit at the US Open last year after a 16-month break.<\/p>\n<p>She will then head to the Hobart International immediately before Melbourne.<\/p>\n<p>Two-time Grand Slam champion and fellow American Coco Gauff said it was \u201cincredible\u201d to see Williams still turning up for tournaments.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s a legend of the sport, so it will be cool to see her back in action,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s incredible the longevity of her career. She\u2019s one of the people I looked up to, so looking forward to seeing her back on court.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>United States tennis legend Venus Williams returns to the Australian Open for the first time since 2021. Published On 2 Jan 20262 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Seven-time major singles champion Venus Williams has been handed a wildcard to the Australian Open aged 45, becoming the oldest woman to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7273,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-canada-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}