Two-time US Open champion Venus Williams produced a gallant display on her return to the US Open Monday night but ultimately came up short against 11th seed Karolina Muchova at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Williams, 45, had not featured in any grand slam since losing in the first round of the 2023 US Open but produced a stirring display against an opponent 16 years her younger.
Muchova, who reached the last four of the US Open in both 2023 and 2024, eventually prevailed 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 in a topsy-turvy encounter that lasted exactly two hours and saw Williams produce a stunning second set performance.
“I was stressed,” Muchova said on-court after her first-round victory. “She’s such a legend of our sport and I’m lucky to share a court with her.”
Williams, meanwhile, acknowledged that she had a slow start on Monday night after only playing three matches in 2025 but said she was proud of how she performed against Muchova in a display that saw her win her first set at the US Open since 2019.
Williams, playing in a grand slam for the first time in two years, was understandably stiff early on, handing Muchova a break in her opening service game of the match.
The 45-year-old quickly began to loosen up, however, and broke back in the fourth game of the set after producing a number of powerful groundstrokes on Muchova’s serve.
Williams was purring by now and produced two glorious backhand passes on serve to move briefly ahead in the set before obliterating Muchova’s second serve with a stunning forehand to help bring up another break point, which Muchova saved with a backhand down the line.
That hold seemed to spark Muchova into life and the 11th seed brought up a break point of her own in Williams’ next service game, retaking the lead in the set when Williams fired into the net.
Williams first serve had, at this stage deserted her, with the veteran producing three double faults to hand Muchova a set point. She saved that break point, but Muchova quickly brought up another. True to form, Williams produced a fourth double of the game to hand the set to Muchova on a silver platter.
Williams, was largely competitive throughout the opening set when her first serve was firing, but that weapon too often deserted her toward the tail end of the set, with Muchova gobbling up Williams’ second serve.
But Williams, who has played just three competitive matches since March 2024, rolled back the years in the second set, breaking Muchova in the first game of the set on the fourth attempt.
She produced an exquisite overhead smash on her own serve to the delight of the partisan Arthur Ashe crowd to help consolidate the break and looked imperious on her serve throughout the set.
As if to underline her improvement, her first serve percentage, which had stood at just 48% in the opening set, rose dramatically to 76% in the second.
Muchova, meanwhile, admitted that she was a “little lost” in the second set as Williams fought her way back into the contest.
Williams produced a characteristic cross-court backhand to seal a double break and saw out the set after a couple of nervy points at deuce to bring the partisan crowd to its feet.
Williams even remarked that she had never played in a US Open match where she enjoyed such strong support throughout her lengthy career.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had a crowd that much on my side,” she said. “It felt great to have that kind of support.”
Williams, however, could not maintain that level in the deciding set and produced two double faults in her opening service game to hand the initiative straight back to Muchova.
It was an initiative that Muchova did not relinquish as the 29-year-old took advantage of the 16-year age gap between the players to take control of the final set.
The Czech number one sealed a double break when Williams went long from the net and saw out victory with an easy hold to seal a comfortable third set.
Williams, who had previously stated that she would not play again in 2025 once her US Open campaign was at an end, said she was grateful for the opportunity to compete at Arthur Ashe again following her 18-month hiatus from tennis.
“I wasn’t lucky with my health and my injuries, but there were a lot of people who believed in me,” Williams said.
However, she reiterated that she would not be playing another competitive match in 2025 – unless a tournament was moved to the United States.
“I don’t know that I’m willing to travel that far at this stage of my career,” she said. “I don’t want to play at high altitude either.”
Williams did not comment on whether she would participate in the Australian Open next January and appeared to become emotional after being quizzed about what she had learned about herself after returning to the US Open courts this summer.
“I think, for me, getting back on the court was about giving myself a chance to play more healthy. 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 free here.”
