Dhaka, July 23 -- Venus Williams made a triumphant return to singles tennis on Tuesday night, defeating 23-year-old Peyton Stearns 6-3, 6-4 at the DC Open and becoming the second-oldest woman in history to win a tour-level singles match.

At 45, Williams is now only behind Martina Navratilova, who won a match at age 47 in 2004. This marks Williams' first singles match in over a year and her first singles victory since August 2023 in Cincinnati. She had been sidelined following surgery to remove uterine fibroids and was listed as "inactive" by the WTA until this week.

"Each week was a mental battle," Williams said of her comeback journey. "Some days I felt I wasn't ready. Some weeks I made progress. But it was always a head game."

Willia...