Venus Williams returns to U.S. Open at 45: I’m just trying to have fun, stay relaxed and be my personal best”

It’s a given that much of the coverage and attention devoted to Venus Williams’ return to the U.S. Open, where play begins Sunday, has focused — and will focus — on how old she is. The American is, after all, 45, an age at which no one has competed in singles in New York since 1981.

That, in and of itself, is noteworthy.

And yet there is plenty more that is significant about her first appearance at a Grand Slam tournament in two full years, regardless of how Williams plays in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday night when meets Karolina Muchova, the 2023 French Open runner-up and a two-time semifinalist in New York.

“I want to be my best, and that’s the expectation I have for myself: to get the best out of me. And that’s all any player can ask for,” Williams said Saturday. “I haven’t played as much as the other players, so it’s a different challenge when you’re dealing with that. So I’m just trying to have fun, stay relaxed and be my personal best.”

Williams made it back to the tour in July, 16 months after last playing an official match anywhere and less than a year after she had surgery for uterine fibroids.

Venus Williams is at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in 2 years

“It’s just really, I would say, inspiring,” said Naomi Osaka, 27, a four-time Grand Slam champion. “My only thing is: I don’t really like how every headline mentions her age. … We all know how old she is. But it’s kind of more the broader (significance) — how much of a legend she is in this sport.”

Williams and her younger sister Serena whose last match as a pro came at Flushing Meadows in 2022, represent an indelible chapter in the history of tennis, yes, but also of sports in a greater sense and even American society.

They transcended the mere scores and stats and win-and-loss ledgers, and made it all about far more than that, including Venus’ famous stand in favor of equal prize money for women at Wimbledon.

“She’s one of the best athletes of all time,” two-time U.S. Open semifinalist Frances Tiafoe said. “Her and her sister, they’re not only great for the women’s game, not only great for women’s sports, but they are so iconic.”

Venus and Serena Williams are sisters who both reached the top of tennis

Their story bears repeating: Two siblings were first taught tennis by their self-taught father and both not only made it to the professional tour but both reached No. 1 in the rankings and won the most important trophies in their global sport.

“People, I guess,” Osaka said, “should value them a little bit more.”

Osaka grew up watching the Williams sisters, then competed against them.

So did plenty of other women, such as Coco Gauff, who first announced herself to the world by defeating Venus at Wimbledon in 2019. After that match, Gauff — just 15 at the time — said she thanked Venus “for everything she did,” and told reporters: “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her.”

Venus was the first Black woman since Althea Gibson to win Wimbledon

In 2000, Venus became the first Black woman since Althea Gibson in the 1950s to win the championship at the All England Club.

“She’s (had) a huge impact. … It’s so cool to see a legend still playing, still doing what she loves,” 2021 U.S. Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez said. “It’s not, kind of, to prove people wrong, but it’s because she truly loves the sport — and you can see the kid in her. I love that.”

Indeed, asked why she would bother playing, Williams replied: “Why not?”

Venus Williams owns 23 Grand Slam trophies in singles and doubles

Williams collected five singles trophies at Wimbledon and also won the U.S. Open in 2000 and 2001. That’s aside from 14 Grand Slam titles in women’s doubles — all with Serena — and two in mixed doubles, an event she returned to at Flushing Meadows this week.

Since the Williams sisters came on the scene — Venus made her professional debut in 1994, when she was 14; Serena, who is 15 months younger, would soon follow and ended up with 23 major singles titles — they set an example for kids who looked like them and wanted to play tennis.

Last month in Washington, Williams took pride in noticing that there were three Black women competing on the court when she played — and won, by the way — a doubles match during the first event of her comeback.

“It’s amazing that now African-American girls know they can play tennis, that that’s an option, an opportunity for them to be out there, too, on the court, in whatever capacity,” she said, “whether you get to the pros, whether you play college or whether you just learn from the sport.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com