Venus Williams awarded wild-card entry for Australian Open

Updated: 2022-12-20 09:39

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Serena Williams (L) and Venus Williams of the US react during a time out in play during their first round women's doubles match against Lucie Hradecka and Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic during at the US Open Tennis Championships at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, September 1st, 2022. [Photo/IC]

MELBOURNE — Venus Williams has been awarded a wild-card entry to play at the Australian Open next month, 25 years after she played the Grand Slam tournament for the first time.

The 42-year-old Williams has reached the final twice in Australia, including a loss to her younger sister, Serena, in the 2017 championship match. She will be contesting the season-opening major for the 22nd time.

“I’ve been competing in the country for over 20 years now and the Australian community has always supported me wholeheartedly,” the seven-time major winner said in a statement.

Venus and Serena Williams combined to win the Australian Open women’s doubles title four times and Venus also won the mixed doubles title in 1998 with fellow American Justin Gimelstob.

Serena Williams will not be contesting the Jan. 16-29 tournament at Melbourne Park after announcing at the US Open that she was ready to evolve away from tennis.

AFP

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