US Open: Venus Williams falls short of a remarkable victory on return to New York

Venus Williams fell short of a remarkable US Open victory, but not before showing the tennis world why she is not ready to hang up her racket just yet.

At 45, Williams was the oldest player to compete in the women's singles here since Renee Richards in 1981 and the third oldest of the open era.

She had a tough draw against 11th seed Karolina Muchova, a semi-finalist last year, but made life very uncomfortable for the Czech in front of a packed and partisan crowd before eventually falling to a 6-3 2-6 6-1 defeat.

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Whether this was Williams' last run-out remains to be seen and she waved to all sides of Arthur Ashe Stadium as she walked off to a standing ovation.

"Are there any tournaments in the States?" Williams joked during her press conference. "Can someone move a tournament here?

"I love playing. The level of my game has come up so much since DC. I tried as hard as I could to throw off any rust, but at the end of the day, there's only so much that can really be accomplished in three or four matches.

"I don't play in high altitude either, so I won't be going to Guadalajara and Australia is kind of far too."

Back at Flushing Meadows for the first time in two years, and a full 28 years after first reaching the final as a 17-year-old, Williams initially looked as if she would struggle to make the match competitive.

But coming back from 0-40 to hold serve in the third game settled Williams into the contest and soon she was sending backhands arrowing into the corners in vintage fashion.

She levelled at 2-2 and, although Muchova went on to take the opening set, Williams was very much in it.

The American won her first match for nearly two years last month against Peyton Stearns in Washington, but performing on the Grand Slam stage against a player with strong recent grand slam pedigree was on another level.

Williams, who last won a match here six years ago, stamped her authority on the second set with a break of serve in the opening game and then moved 5-2 ahead, clenching her fist in celebration when an errant Muchova shot made it one set all.

Williams stretched out her legs in time to the background music as Muchova took a break before the decider, but it was the Czech who made the better start on the resumption and her opponent eventually ran out of gas.

"My goal is to do what I want to do," Williams said. "I wanted to be here this summer. I'm so grateful for all the folks who gave me a wildcard. They could have said, 'Hey, listen, you've been gone too long, you haven't won a lot of matches in the last few years.' I wasn't lucky with my health and with injuries but there were a lot of people who believed in me in these tournaments.

"I'm very grateful to have had that chance and that opportunity to make good on it and have a chance to really strike the ball."

Williams, whose last US Open appearance ended in a 6-1 6-1 defeat by Greet Minnen in 2023, became emotional as she reflected on finally being free of illness and injury after so many struggles throughout her career.

"I think for me getting back on the court was about giving myself a chance to play more healthy," she said.

"When you play unhealthy, it's in your mind. It's not just how you feel. You get stuck in your mind, too. So, it was nice to be freer."

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Alcaraz's shaved head makes its US Open debut

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Carlos Alcaraz sported a new buzz cut and while the cropped style drew a mixed reaction online the Spaniard's spectacular tennis left no room for discussion as he dismantled Reilly Opelka 6-4 7-5 6-4 to reach the second round.

Having ditched his tousled pre-tournament look, the second seed made an impressive start in his bid to secure a second Grand Slam title of the year.

"Today was a really difficult one against a really great player," Alcaraz said in his on-court interview.

"With [Reilly's] serve, I couldn't get that rhythm I wanted to get in the match, but just really happy with everything I've done today. I think the return was one of the best things I did today and then I just tried to play my best tennis, be focused on the serve. I think overall, I did a great performance today."

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The 22-year-old, who won the first of his five major trophies at New York three years ago, looked every bit championship material against the unseeded American Opelka as he broke for a 3-2 lead and clinched the opening set with ease.

Alcaraz wobbled on serve for the first time in the second set when he sent down consecutive double faults but Opelka failed to convert both his break-point opportunities.

After breaking Opelka in the 11th game, Alcaraz held to love for a 2-0 lead and turned up the heat in the ninth game of the third set, breaking again thanks to a foot fault and a wayward serve by his opponent.

There was no looking back from there as Alcaraz held to love to complete the victory and set up a second-round encounter with Italian Mattia Bellucci.

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