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Venus Williams celebrates a tennis win with a fist pump on the court, smiling as the crowd cheers behind her.
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Key Takeaways


Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams is having a great week after becoming the second-oldest woman to win a tour-level singles match at age 45, according to The Associated Press.

On Tuesday (July 22), Williams was all smiles as she shared messages of hope, encouragement and the importance of believing in yourself just as much as others do. She made history yet again after defeating 23-year-old Peyton Stearns, an NCAA singles and team champion from the University of Texas, currently ranked No. 35, with a 6-3, 6-4 win at the DC Open.

"Each week that I was training, I was like, 'Oh, my God, I don't know if I'm good enough yet.' And then there would be weeks where I would leap forward," Williams said following her win, AP reported. "And there would be two weeks where I was, like, 'Oh, God, it's not happening.' Even the week leading up, (I thought), 'Oh, my gosh, I need to improve so much more.' So it's all a head game."

Before Tuesday, the only woman older than Williams to win a tour-level singles match was Martina Navratilova, who secured her final victory at age 47 in 2004.

Williams, a former world No. 1, hadn't played an official singles match since her March 2024 loss at the Miami Open, after taking time off for surgery to remove uterine fibroids. She last won a singles match in Cincinatti in August 2023.

"I had to come back for the insurance," Williams joked about her return to tennis, Newsweek reported.

Racial and ethnic inequities in health coverage have long contributed to broader health disparities. In 2022, 10% of Black Americans were uninsured, compared to 6.6% of white Americans, according to KFF.

Although overall uninsured rates saw little change from 2022 to 2023, Black individuals under 65 remained disproportionately uninsured — reflecting persistent systemic disparities and deep-rooted mistrust in the healthcare system.

"I'm just constantly praying for good health, so that way I could have an opportunity to play with good health," Williams said, per AP. "A lot of this for me is being able to come back and try to play at a level (and) to play healthy."

According to AP, it took Williams some extra effort to close out the match, missing several match points before finally sealing the win on her sixth chance with a powerful 112 mph serve that Stearns sent into the net.

Williams’ next opponent is 27-year-old No. 5 seed Magdalena Fręch, whom she will go against on Thursday (July 24).

A win on the court and in love

Acknowledging the challenges ahead, Williams said she's ready for the fight — especially with her fiancé by her side.

In a post-match interview, Williams confirmed her engagement to 37-year-old actor-producer and former model Andrea Preti, according to PEOPLE.

"My fiancé is here, and he really encouraged me to keep playing," Williams shared, PEOPLE reported.

Though they've kept their relationship mostly private, the couple was first spotted together on July 27, 2024, boating along Italy's Amalfi Coast.

By February 2025, engagement rumors swirled after Williams was seen wearing a sparkling diamond ring during a tennis training session in Rome.

The speculation grew stronger later that month when the couple attended Milan Fashion Week's Dsquared2 Fall/Winter 2025 show, where Williams rocked what appeared to be a square-cut diamond ring on her left hand.

"There were so many times where I just wanted to coast and kind of chill," Williams shared on Tuesday, per PEOPLE. "Do you know how hard it is to play tennis? You guys don't know how much work goes into this, like it's 9 to 5 except you're running the whole time. Lifting weights and just like dying and then you repeat it the next day. So he encouraged me to get through this, and it's wonderful to be here. He's never seen me play."