Former World No. 1 tennis player Venus Williams is set to make her return to the Australian Open 2026 in Melbourne Park after five years. The seven-time Grand Slam champion, now aged 45, last played in the event in 2021. This is the first time after 2023 that Venus will compete outside the United States.
Ahead of the Australian Open, Venus will play in the Auckland Classic from January 5 to 17, having received a wildcard entry in November 2025 to the WTA event in New Zealand. Her schedule then follows with the preparations for the warm-up tournament at the Hobart International in Australia, alongside fellow tennis players and champions Barbora Krejcikova and Emma Raducanu.
The official page of the Australian Open has released the statements made by Venus on returning to Australia and getting the chance to compete at the age of 45.
Venus said, “I’m excited to be back in Australia and looking forward to competing during the Australian summer. I’ve had so many incredible memories there, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to return to a place that has meant so much to my career.”
Her participation in the Australian Open will make her the oldest woman tennis player to compete in the main draw of the Grand Slam. With that, she has also surpassed Japan’s Kimiko Date record who last played in the 2015 Australia Open at the age of 44.
Venus first appeared in the Australian Open in the 1998 edition, where she lost her quarterfinal match against America’s Lindsay Davenport. She has also finished as a runner-up twice in the women’s singles category. In both the finale matches she lost to her younger sister Serena in the 2003 and 2017 editions respectively.
Among the notable names of female tennis in the Olympics, Venus has had a remarkable career with five medals won across singles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles. In Sydney 2000, she won her first gold medal in both the singles and doubles category. She continued her dominant run, bagging titles in the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Games in the women’s doubles event, followed by a silver in mixed doubles in Rio 2016.
Venus is a two-time US Open winner and a five-time Wimbledon champion, and her participation in the Australian Open 2026 adds another major milestone to her already established career.
The tennis legend has recently married model, producer, and actor Andrea Preti in Palm Beach, Florida in late December 2025. The two had first met during the Milan Fashion Week in 2024 and then got engaged on January 31, 2025, in Tuscany.
