The elder Williams was off the tennis tour for 16 months until making a comeback at a tournament in Washington last month, where she won one match each in singles and doubles. She hadn’t competed anywhere since the Miami Open in March 2024, and had surgery for uterine fibroids later last year.

The 45-year-old brought her big serve and powerful groundstrokes to the fore before falling to 11th seed Karolina Muchova.

Venus Williams has celebrated twice holding the trophy aloft on Arthur Ashe. But the most recent of those was in 2001. Now aged 45, she will play in the first round of the US Open, against Czech 11th seed Karolina Muchova.