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Venus Williams is one of the most experienced women on tour. Currently playing her 30th season since debuting in 1994, Williams achieved a remarkable milestone on Monday at the ASB Classic in Auckland.
The 42-year-old beat Katie Volynets, who is half her age, in straight sets in the opening round. Breaking her opponent to love as Voleynets served for the first set, Williams grabbed the opener on a tiebreak. It was all Williams in the second, as she conceded just two games to notch up her first singles win in nearly 18 months.
In the process, the seven-time Grand Slam winner became only the third player this century above the age of 40 to win a WTA singles main draw match. She now awaits Zhu Lin for a place in the quarterfinals.
On that note, here are the three WTA players to win a main draw match after celebrating their 42nd birthday:
#1 Martina Navratilova
Martina Navratilova is widely regarded as one of the best and most successful players to have graced the women's game.
The 66-year-old was the epitome of sustained excellence and longevity. She was active on the tour for more than two decades. After turning pro in 1974, the Czechoslovakia-born left-hander would enjoy roaring success in both singles and doubles for 20 years before announcing her retirement.
During this period, Navratilova won a staggering 177 singles titles, including 18 Grand Slam singles, with exactly half of them coming at Wimbledon. She's one of a handful of ladies in the Open Era to win the career Grand Slam on multiple occasions. Her other Major singles triumphs were two Australian Opens, three Roland Garros Tournaments and four US Open titles.
Six years after her singles retirement in 1994, Navratilova returned to the sport but mostly played doubles. In 2002, a 45-year-old Navratilova beat World No. 22 Tatiana Panova at Eastbourne to become one of the oldest WTA players to register a singles match win. However, she couldn't add to her record of 167 WTA singles titles.
A year later, she partnered Indian doubles legend Leander Paes to win the mixed doubles titles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. That made her the third player (all females) to complete the boxed set (singles, doubles, mixed doubles). Doris Hart and Margaret Court are the other two.
Her triumph at Wimbledon was her 20th at the grasscourt Grand Slam (singles, doubles, mixed doubles). That put Navratilova level with another legend of the game, Billie Jean King.
At Wimbledon in 2004, a 47-year-old Navratilova became the oldest player to win a professional singles match in the Open Era. She beat Catalina Castano 6-0 6-1 but lost to her 2004 Roland Garros conqueror Gisela Dulko in the next round.
Navratilova's record of 1424 singles match wins and 167 titles is the most by any player in the Open Era. She played singles and doubles at the same event on 84 occasions, which is another record.
#2 Kimiko Date
Kimiko Date had a far more modest career compared to the first name on the list.
The former WTA World No. 4 retired in November 1996 only to return 12 years later to win her eighth career singles title at the 2009 Korea Open. That made the then 39-year-old Date the second oldest player (after Billie Jean King) to win a WTA singles title.
In 2013, a 42-year-old Date beat Nadia Petrova at the Australian Open to become the oldest woman to win a main draw singles match at the tournament. Bogged down by nagging injuries, Date played her last singles match at the 2017 Japan Open (losing to Aleksandra Krunic) before calling it quits for the second time.
The three-time Grand Slam singles semifinalist ended her career with exactly 450 singles match wins, with 60 of them coming at Grand Slams.
#3 Venus Williams
Venus Williams is one of the bonafide legends of the sport. The American is a seven-time Grand Slam singles winner and has also won several titles.
She has successfully battled Sjogren's syndrome for more than a decade, but injuries have begun to catch up with her. Last year, Williams tumbled out of the top 1000 in singles and lost all four singles matches.
This year, however, the 42-year-old rolled back the years, beating Katy Volynets in the first round of the ASB Classic in Auckland on Monday. That made her only the third player above the age of 40 to win a singles match on tour this century.
That ended her 18-month wait for a singles win on tour, having last tasted victory at Wimbledon in 2021.
Williams will now look to end her six-year singles title drought, having not gone all the way at a singles tournament since 2016. If she does so, it would be the four-time Olympic gold medalist's 50th in the singles arena.
She will take on Zhu Lin for a place in the Auckland quarterfinals.
Venus Williams and Father Richard recall one match that 7-time Grand Slam champion "should have won"
