The American icon doled out wisdom and inspiration in her pre-tournament press conference at the Citi Open. 

By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday July 20, 2025

Venus Williams, 45, has a lot of reasons to move beyond professional tennis and take advantage of the many creative and entrepreneurial opportunities are now available to her. But she could not resist the pull to test herself against the sports’ elite at least one more time this week at the Mubadala Citi Open in Washington, D.C.

Williams, who was granted a wild card into the main draw and will face American Peyton Stearns in her first match since the 2024 Miami Open, explains her decision to play as follows: “Why not?”

The American icon spoke to the media in a pre-tournament press conference on Sunday and doled out wisdom at a rapid clip.

“It's incredible,” she said, beaming from the podium, as she was asked what it felt like to inspire America’s next generation of talent. “Actually, that was not what I thought would happen in my life as a young person. I wanted to play the game, be a champion. I loved the game so much, I didn't realize that it would be so much bigger than myself, and seeing these young women doing positive things with their life, winning tournaments, inspiring the next generation too. It's like I could have never imagined that.”

She finished the declaration with a very Venus sentence:

“It's like icing on the cake, cherries on top, with the nuts and all the fixings. You know, it's beautiful.”

Did she miss tennis? Is that why she’s returning this week? Not necessarily.

“I'm not a person that misses a lot,” she said. “I have so much I'm doing off of the court that kept me so busy that I don't know if I had time to miss anything, but I do know that when I went to Wimbledon this year, I was there for a day, and it was so beautiful and exciting, and I remembered all the times that I had, of course, the adrenaline, all those things, I think just the pure fun of playing the game, the fun of the challenge, overcoming – when you play, you have to overcome so many challenges, your opponents, the conditions, a lot of times you have to overcome yourself.

“Those things are very exciting. So I think maybe just the challenge of it all.”

Williams may want to catch a wild card at the US Open, but as she said numerous times during her press conference, she prefers to keep her cards tight to her vest.

“I'm just here for now, and who knows, maybe there's more,” she said. “Like I said, I hold my cards close, but at the moment I'm focused just on this, and I haven't played in a year. There's no doubt I can play tennis, but obviously, coming back to play matches, it takes time to get in the swing of things.”

Which takes us to our next question. Can she be effective on the tennis court, at her age, after so many health issues? Williams has not won a match since 2023 in Cincinnati, and she has won just six of 26 matches since the start of 2021.

Not that it really matters to fans who just want to catch a glimpse of this legend up close and personal, but Williams feels she has what it takes to play winning tennis.

“I definitely feel I'll play well. I'm still the same player. I hit big,” she said with a smile. “This is my brand. So it's about hitting big and actually putting it in. So this will be my effort. Put it in the court. That's my main goal.

More important, is being a part of the game that she loves, and continuing to fly the flag for women’s tennis. Remember that Venus played a pivotal role in garnering equal prize money for women at Wimbledon nearly two decades ago. She’s been championing the women’s game ever since, and she’s not ready to stop – at least not yet.

“I always felt a big responsibility towards promoting tennis and also promoting women’s sports. I think that this generation can't forget that women, we still have lots to fight for and having an example to set is so important.

“And of course, I'm in love with tennis, so to have the opportunity, to have this platform, to promote the game, even now, is a great opportunity.”

It will be Venus Williams vs Peyton Stearns in round one at DC. pic.twitter.com/BxxoPSftHF

— TennisNow (@Tennis_Now) July 20, 2025