Venus Williams commits to ASB Classic to start 33rd pro season

Tennis great Venus Williams plans to play for a 33rd straight season on the WTA Tour, starting in Auckland, New Zealand, in January.

Organizers of the ASB Classic in New Zealand said Wednesday that Williams, 45, would feature at their Jan. 5-11 event via a wild-card entry.

It suggests the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion is preparing for the Australian Open later that month, a tournament she has twice lost in the final and last appeared at in 2021.

Williams made her pro tournament debut in 1994 in Oakland, California, and has played at least two WTA events in each season since, the tour said. She has not played a tournament outside North America since Birmingham in 2023.

She last played in singles at the US Open in August, losing in three sets to 11th-seeded Karolina Muchova in the first round. She reached the quarterfinals in women's doubles at Flushing Meadows alongside Leylah Fernandez.

Ranked No. 570, Williams is five years older than the next-oldest-ranked players, Naoko Eto and Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

The Associated Press and PA contributed to this report.

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