Venus Williams is planning to return to professional tennis later this month for the first time in more than a year.
The 45-year-old has accepted a wild-card invite to compete in the women’s singles draw at the 2025 Mubadala Citi DC Open beginning July 19 in Washington, D.C., tournament organizers announced on Friday, July 11.. It will be the first professional singles match for the seven-time Grand Slam winner since the Miami Open in March 2024, when Williams lost in the first round. She last appeared at the DC Open in 2022.
‘There’s something truly special about D.C.: the energy, the fans, the history,’ Williams said in a statement. ‘This city has always shown me so much love, and I can’t wait to compete there again.’
It seemed Williams might make a return to professional tennis earlier this year when the BNP Paribas Open announced she had received a wild-card entry into the main singles draw at the 1000-level WTA tournament in Indian Wells, California in March. But Williams later clarified she had not actually committed to play in the event.
Williams is currently listed as an ‘inactive’ player on her WTA website profile page. She hasn’t played in a Grand Slam event since Wimbledon in 2023, when she lost in the first round after suffering a knee injury. Williams announced in 2011 she had been diagnosed with Sjögren’s Syndrome, an autoimmune disease.
‘She has inspired people around the world with her accomplishments on the court and her visionary impact off the court,’ said Mark Ein, chairman of the Mubadala Citi DC Open. ‘I know how much it means to our D.C. fans and community to be able to watch her compete in person this summer.’
Williams won Wimbledon five times during her career, most recently in 2008, and also has two U.S. Open titles since first bursting onto the scene as a professional more than 30 years ago.
Defending French Open champion Coco Gauff, Wimbledon finalist Amanda Anisimova, Jessica Pegula, former U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu and four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka are among the other notable commitments for the women’s singles portion of the 2025 DC Open alongside Williams.