Venus Williams has received her first aggressive match since Wimbledon 2021 with victory over Katie Volynets within the first spherical in Auckland.
The 42-year-old, who first received a foremost tour match in 1994, opted towards following youthful sister Serena into retirement and made a successful begin to 2023 by seeing off fellow American Volynets 7-6 (7-4) 6-2.
It ended a nine-match shedding streak on the tour for Williams courting again to the Melbourne Classic in January 2021.
Her solely match victories in that point got here at grand slam degree, with Williams reaching the second spherical of the Australian Open and Wimbledon the identical yr – she misplaced all 4 matches she contested final yr.
Williams, who will make a twenty second look on the Australian Open as a wild card, stated: “This is one of my favourite places to come and I was so excited that I made it here.
“It is so nice to be again and thanks for staying so late and I’m glad that I managed to get a win.”
The seven-time grand slam singles champion overcame a rain delay ahead of the first-set tie-break, and she added: “I used to be so mad on the rain break. It is difficult to cease within the center if you end up all fired and all of a sudden it’s important to cease. I nonetheless like it and I believe I can nonetheless be aggressive.”
Williams subsequent faces China’s Zhu Lin, who defeated Madison Brengle.
