Venus Williams gets wild card for 2026 Australian Open at age 45, 5 years after last appearance

Seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Venus Williams will return to the Australian Open in Melbourne for the first time in 5 years. And at age 45, the tournament said she is set to become the oldest woman ever to compete in an Australian Open main draw.

Tournament officials said Friday that Williams received a wild-card entry for the 2026 tournament at Melbourne Park 28 years after her first appearance. In 1998, the then-17-year-old defeated her younger sister Serena Williams in the second round before losing in the quarterfinals to fellow American Lindsay Davenport.

“I’m excited to be back in Australia and looking forward to competing during the Australian summer,” Williams said. “I’ve had so many incredible memories there, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to return to a place that has meant so much to my career.”

Venus Williams made an incredible comeback in the sport in July 2025 when she accepted a wild-card invitation to play singles at the 2025 Mubadala Citi DC Open. She became the second-oldest woman to win a tour-level singles match after beating Peyton Sterns — 22 years her junior — 6-3, 6-4. It was Williams’ first singles victory in nearly 2 years.

Williams then went on an electric run at the 2025 U.S. Open when she partnered with Leylah Fernandez in the women’s doubles tournament. They reached the quarterfinals, where they lost to Taylor Townsend and Kateřina Siniaková.

In November, Williams announced that she would play in Auckland, New Zealand, where she also received a wild card, two weeks before the Australian Open. The Australian Open said Williams was also entered to play a tournament in Hobart, Australia, a week later and just before play begins at Melbourne Park.

She last appeared in Melbourne in 2021 and has finished runner-up in the women’s singles twice, losing to Serena in the finals in 2003 and 2017.

Williams’ record at Melbourne Park is 54 wins and 21 losses. This year will be the 22nd time she has appeared in the main draw.

The current record for the oldest woman to compete in an Australian Open main draw is held by Japan’s Kimiko Date, who was 44 when she lost in the first round at Melbourne Park in 2015.

In late December, Williams married Danish-born model and actor Andrea Preti in Palm Beach, Florida.