Venus Williams continues comeback aged 45 as star adds new tournament to 2026 schedule | Tennis | Sport
Venus Williams is set to continue her comeback next year after accepting a wildcard into the ASB Classic in Auckland. The seven-time Major winner returned from a 16-month hiatus in Washington over the summer and played a select few tournaments in America before taking another break.
Aged 45, Williams still loves competing, and she’s already planning to continue into 2026. The American will jet to New Zealand in January to start the season – a promising sign that she could also return to the Australian Open.
The ASB Classic announced Williams’ participation on social media on Tuesday, writing: “Legend status. The one and only, the game-changer, the all-time great… @Venuseswilliams will RETURN for #ASBClassic26.”
The WTA 250 event gets underway on January 2 and is part of the build-up to the Australian Open. Williams has not played the Australian Open since 2021, when she reached the second round.
Her participation in the ASB Classic is a promising sign that she could also return to Melbourne a few weeks later.
Williams has not played a match since the US Open, where she pushed No. 11 seed Karolina Muchova to three sets during her first-round loss in singles. The former world No. 1 also teamed up with Leylah Fernandez in doubles, reaching the quarter-finals.
Afterwards, she admitted that she had no immediate plans to play more tournaments. “I don’t know. I was so focused on this tournament here. I really felt like we had a chance to really continue to play into the tournament,” Williams said.
“So I haven’t given that any thought. I do have commitments, you know, places I said I’d be, people expecting me to be there, like, the next few weeks. So I have to go and show up.
“But I’m very serious about my commitments. I would never want to cancel now, so I’ll try to keep those. If there is opportunity for me to play, then hopefully I can get back somewhere this year. I just don’t know. I really don’t.”
The five-time Wimbledon winner ultimately did not play again in 2025. But she’s already looking ahead to next season.
Williams initially made her comeback at the WTA 500 in Washington – her first tournament since the 2024 Miami Open – where she stunned world No. 35 Peyton Stearns in the first round before going out in round two.
The American also played the doubles event with Hailey Baptiste, where they won a match before losing to No. 2 seeds Taylor Townsend and Zhang Shuai.
Williams competed in the Cincinnati Open, losing in the first round, before heading to the US Open. And she’ll now play her first tournament outside of America since the 2023 Canadian Open.
