Venus Williams turned back the clock in Washington on Tuesday (July 22), becoming the oldest player since Martina Navratilova to win a tour-level singles match. 

The 45-year-old American beat compatriot Peyton Stearns 6-3, 6-4 at the Citi Open, which was her first singles victory since August 2023.

It was a big moment for the seven-time former Grand Slam singles champion, who hadn’t played a singles match in 16 months and currently holds no world ranking. Her next challenge will be against Poland’s Magdalena Frech, the tournament’s fifth seed.

The victory places Williams in elite company. The last woman older than her to win a main draw singles match was Navratilova, who was 47 when she won a round at Wimbledon in 2004.

Meanwhile, Emma Raducanu continued her resurgence with a gritty straight-sets victory over seventh seed Marta Kostyuk, winning 7-6 (4), 6-4. The former US Open champion was playing her first singles match since pushing world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to three sets at Wimbledon.

With Katie Boulter falling in the first round, Raducanu is now just one win away from reclaiming the British No. 1 ranking, but she’ll need to get past fellow Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka to do it.

Cameron Norrie also made headlines, pulling off a notable upset over world No. 7 Lorenzo Musetti. After dropping the first set, Norrie battled back to win 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, sealing his first win over a top 10 opponent since reaching the Indian Wells quarter finals in 2023.