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Venus Williams, 45, to play first match of 2025 vs. Peyton Stearns in Washington, DC

The seven-time Grand Slam champion accepted a wild card into the Mubadala Citi DC Open.

ByDavid Kane

Published Jul 19, 2025

The Break: Venus Williams in edgy shoot for Perfect Magazine

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WASHINGTON, DC—Venus Williams is set to play her first WTA match since March 2024 when she takes the court to face Peyton Stearns in the first round of the Mubadala Citi DC Open this week.

A fellow American, Stearns will face Williams for the first time. The 23-year-old earned a career-high ranking of No. 28 earlier this spring, reaching her first WTA 1000 semifinal on clay at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

Read more: Venus Williams to play Mubadala Citi DC Open

Williams, 45, accepted a wild card into the singles draw of the WTA 500 tournament, having last played an official match at the 2024 Miami Open. Her last win came in 2023 at the Cincinnati Open, where she defeated then-world No. 16 Veronika Kudermetova.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion played the Citi Open just once before in 2022, losing in the first round to Canadian qualifier Rebecca Marino, but was a longtime fixture in the DC tennis community as a competitor for World TeamTennis. Playing for the Washington Kastles, Williams was the team’s Marquee Player six times and helped lead them to five World TeamTennis titles.

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World No. 48 Hailey Baptiste has fond memories of watching Williams compete for the Kastles, attending games with the Washington Tennis & Education Foundation.

“I got to play doubles with Venus there,” recalled the 23-year-old DMV native. “I think I was four or five years old.

“So, yeah, that was crazy that that happened. Could maybe happen in the future again!”

Baptiste, who was later revealed to be in the doubles tournament alongside Williams, will play her home tournament for the first time since cracking the Top 50 this summer, opening against 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin.

Top seed Jessica Pegula will play either 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez or Australia’s Maya Joint following a first-round bye, while No. 2 seed Emma Navarro will take on the winner of the first round between Maria Sakkari and Katie Boulter.