Venus Williams rewrites history with record-breaking Australian Open return

I’ve spent the better part of two decades watching the sun bake the blue courts of the Australian Open. I’ve seen the rise and fall of entire generations, but I’ve learned one thing,

Never bet against a Williams sister’s sense of timing.

The news broke this week, and it felt like a jolt of electricity through the locker room. Venus Williams, at 45, has secured the final wildcard for the 2026 Australian Open.

It will be her first appearance in the main draw here since 2021, and it cements her status as a singular anomaly in the history of this sport. When she steps onto the court on January 18th, she will surpass Japan’s Kimiko Date as the oldest woman to ever compete in the tournament’s main draw.

For those of us who have followed her since the beads-and-braces era, this doesn’t feel like a vanity lap. It feels like a woman who simply refuses to let the world dictate when her story ends.

I remember that 2021 second-round exit against Sara Errani. It was a lopsided, painful affair. 6-1, 6-0 and at the time, many of us were already drafting her career retrospective.

We thought that was the curtain call. But Venus has a way of making “experts” look foolish. After a quiet 2024 where she played just two matches, she reignited the fire last July at the D.C. Open.

I watched her take down Peyton Stearns in a performance that felt less like a 45-year-old veteran and more like the athlete who redefined power tennis in the late 90s. That win made her the oldest woman to win a tour-level match since Martina Navratilova in 2004.

There’s a different gravity to Venus these days. Her life off-court has expanded with her recent marriage to Danish-Italian actor Andrea Preti in Palm Beach. It suggests a woman who is deeply content.

Yet, that competitive itch clearly hasn’t been scratched. Her run to the U.S. Open doubles quarterfinals last year with Leylah Fernandez showed that the hands and the instincts are still world-class, even if the legs have more miles on them than a cross-continental freight train.

The “insider” chatter, however, isn’t just about Venus. It’s about the shadow she casts.

Her sister Serena, now 44, recently re-entered the anti-doping testing pool. While Serena has been quick to deny any formal comeback, you don’t submit to 365 days of “whereabouts” requirements and random testing just for the fun of it.

Could we be looking at a final Williams sisters swan song in 2026? It sounds like a Hollywood script, but then again, their entire lives have been one.