'I feel I'll play well'- Venus Williams ready to roll again at 45

Venus Williams has not played a tour-level match since losing to Russia's Diana Schnaider at the Miami Open in March 2024

In the latest edition of Second Serve, our weekly snapshot of the tours, BBC tennis reporter Jonathan Jurejko looks at the surprise return of Venus Williams, one of the sport's biggest names, at the age of 45.

The Williams sisters have rarely done anything conventionally in their stellar careers.

So perhaps we should not be surprised that Venus Williams - the seven-time major champion and older sister of the iconic Serena - is stepping out onto a professional court again this week at the age of 45.

For several months, the question was whether Venus Williams would ever play on the WTA Tour again.

Earlier this season she became considered an inactive player, having gone a whole year without competing.

Then, out of nowhere as the eyes of the tennis world were trained on Wimbledon, Williams announced she was ready to play.

This week she will make her first tour-level appearance in 16 months after accepting a wild card to return at the Washington Open.

It begged two obvious questions. Why? And why now?

"Most of the time I don't [take up the offer to play as a wild card]," Williams laughed in her pre-tournament news conference.

"But this time I had been hitting the ball. And of course I love the game and the hard courts, it's my favourite surface, what I feel comfortable on. So all those different factors."

The elder Williams emerged as a teenage phenomenon in the 1990s, living up to what had already been long-billed hype when she made her professional debut aged just 14.

After winning the opening match at her first WTA tournament, the rangy youngster further validated the fanfare by running world number two Arantxa Sanchez Vicario close in California.

Within six years, she had lifted her maiden Grand Slam title.

The first of five Wimbledon triumphs arrived in 2000, with the rest strung over the next eight years, while US Open wins came in 2000 and 2001.

Using her height to generate power, Williams changed the face of the WTA Tour with her aggressive, first-strike tennis and became a blueprint for success - including her younger sister, who went on to win 23 major titles.

The same thunderous style which served the former world number one so well in her prime is how she plans to beat fellow American Peyton Stearns, who also loves to bludgeon the ball, in Washington.

"I definitely feel I'll play well. I'm still the same player. I'm a big hitter. I hit big. This is my brand," smiled Williams.

"So it's about hitting big and actually putting it in. So this will be my effort: put it in the court. That's my main goal."

• British men's number one Jack Draper will not play again until the US Open, where he was a semi-finalist last year, because of an arm injury. Draper is among several leading ATP players to pull out of a depleted Canadian Open, with Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic also withdrawing.

• Three-time major finalist Ons Jabeur is the latest star to announce she is taking an extended period away from the sport to protect her mental health.

• More professional wheelchair tennis events will take place at ATP and WTA tournaments next year, with at least seven extra integrated tournaments being introduced.

British number four Francesca Jones continues to make huge strides slightly out of the spotlight.

During the second week of Wimbledon, 24-year-old Jones won the biggest title of her career at a WTA 125k clay-court event in France and this week has crept even closer to the world's top 100.

A defeat in the last 16 of another clay tournament in Romania was earlier than hoped, but enabled Jones to move up to 101st in the rankings - agonisingly close to achieving the notable landmark for the first time in her career.

Meanwhile, Jan Choinski claimed his second ATP Challenger title in the past three weeks by winning in the Netherlands and has moved back into the top 150.

With most of the leading players taking a break after Wimbledon, it presented opportunities for those further down the rankings to take centre stage.

Step up Denis Shapovalov.

The 26-year-old Canadian cracked the world's top 10 in 2021 but dropped as low as 140th last year after a knee injury suffered at Wimbledon two years ago.

Shapovalov - whose swashbuckling style can be erratic but always fun to watch - had doubts if he would be able to make a full recovery, but is moving closer back to his best.

The left-hander did not drop a set on the way to claiming the ATP 250 title in Los Cabos and joined an exclusive list of only six men's players to win multiple tour-level titles in 2025.

Another lifting an ATP trophy was Kazahkstan's Alexander Bublik. The unorthodox and entertaining 28-year-old won the first clay-court title of his career in Gstaad.

On the WTA Tour, France's Lois Boisson - who memorably came out of nowhere to reach the Roland Garros semi-finals - proved that was no fluke by winning the Hamburg clay-court title.

Hungary's Anna Bondar, who lost to Boisson in the final, was another big climber in a quiet week, as were Romania's Irina-Camelia Begu and Switzerland's Jil Teichmann after they contested the Iasi final.

Several top-20 players are returning to action in Washington as they start gearing up for the US Open.

American pair Taylor Fritz and Jessica Pegula lead the singles seeds at the combined ATP-WTA 500 event, while Emma Raducanu, Katie Boulter, Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans are the British contingent in action.

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