US Open 2025: Venus Williams Falls Short On Flushing Meadows Comeback Against Karolina Muchova

Venus Williams is simply happy to be "playing healthy" after her first-round exit at the US Open. Williams took a set off last year's Flushing Meadows semi-finalist Karolina Muchova on Monday, but ultimately slipped to a 6-3 2-6 6-1 defeat.

The 45-year-old – who earlier this summer became the oldest player to win a WTA Tour-level match since 2004 – was featuring in her record-extending 25th main draw at her home major.

And though the adventure is over early for the two-time US Open champion, Williams has few regrets.

Asked what she had proved to herself during this North American hard-court swing after over a year away from the Tour, Williams said: "For me, getting back on court was about giving myself a chance to play more healthy.

"When you play unhealthy it's in your mind. It was nice to be free.

"My team and I, we worked as hard and as fast as we could. We literally took no days off. I haven't gone to dinner. I haven't seen friends.

"I haven't done anything except train for three months as hard as I could. From each match that I didn't win, then I tried to go back and learn from that and then get better."

At the other end of the age spectrum, fifth seed Mirra Andreeva booked her place in round two with a 6-0 6-1 victory over America's Alycia Parks.

It was a disappointing day for American women, with Australian Open champion Madison Keys the biggest casualty as she went down 6-7 (10-12) 7-6 (3-7) 7-5 to world number 82 Renata Zarazua.

"For the first time in a while, my nerves really got the better of me, and it kind of became a little bit paralysing," said Keys.

"I felt like I was just slow. I wasn't seeing things the way that I wanted to, which I feel like resulted in a lot of bad decisions and lazy footwork."

Data Debrief: Age is just a number

At the age of 45 years and 68 days, Williams became the third-oldest player in the Open Era to feature in a three-set match at a grand slam, after Martina Navratilova and Renee Richards.

On the flip side, Andreeva (18 years and 117 days) is the youngest woman to claim a 6-0 set at the US Open since Iga Swiatek (18 years and 87 days) in 2019.

With her defeat of Williams, meanwhile, Muchova moved to 7-7 against grand slam champions at the majors. She is just one of four players never to win such a tournament that holds a 50% or better win ratio against grand slam champions, along with Sabine Lisicki, Ons Jabeur and Jessica Pegula (minimum 10 matches played).