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Venus Williams grateful for Australian Open wildcard

Seven-times Grand Slam champion Venus Williams thanks Australian Open organizers on Jan. 17, 2026 for giving her a wildcard that will see the 45-year-old American become the oldest woman ever to compete in the singles main draw. Williams returned to tennis last season after a 16-month break, winning one of her four tour-level matches before starting 2026 with a first-round defeat by 53rd-ranked Pole Magda Linette as a wildcard at the Auckland Classic last week. Granted another wildcard for the Hobart International, world number 576 Williams was also eliminated in the first round against 38-year-old German Tatjana Maria, a match featuring players with the highest combined age in WTA history.

TENNIS AUSTRALIA

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Transcript
00:00It's been five years since I've been here.
00:04They flew by, and I'm super, super grateful for the opportunity from Tennis Australia
00:11and grateful for the opportunity to play in front of the fans.
00:16I've just received so much support in the tournaments leading up
00:19and walking around the city and everything, so my hope is to play my best.
00:26Yeah, I mean, you've got to throw some red herrings, right?
00:28Also, I was getting married.
00:31I had two weddings coming up.
00:33It was a busy time for me, so I was focused on that.
00:37Yeah, I was training nonstop those three months.
00:40There were periods where I was super busy, so I'd have to take a week off here
00:43or three days off there, but for the most part, I was training
00:46and trying to get myself back in the groove.
00:50At this point, I need to be kind to myself because I'm getting so many things right,
00:54but there had been a lack of playing matches,
00:58so I'm playing well.
01:01I'm setting myself up each point to win points and controlling the points,
01:06so that's exactly how I want to play, and I'm playing the tennis I need to play.
01:11I hadn't thought about it until it came out in the press, so yay.
01:18Yay for me.
01:20Let's do this.
01:21Let's do this.
01:22Let's do this.
01:23Let's do this.
01:24Let's do this.
01:25Let's do this.
01:26Let's do this.
01:27Let's do this.
01:28Let's do this.
01:29Let's do this.
01:30Let's do this.
01:31Let's do this.
01:32Let's do this.
01:33Let's do this.
01:34Let's do this.
01:35Let's do this.
01:36Let's do this.
01:37Let's do this.
01:38Let's do this.
01:39Let's do this.
01:40Let's do this.
01:41Let's do this.
01:42Let's do this.
01:43Let's do this.
01:44Let's do this.
01:45Let's do this.
01:46Let's do this.
01:47Let's do this.
01:48We'll see you next time.
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