Venus Williams returns to tennis with historic Washington win

"It's the first step, and the first match is always extremely difficult," Williams said in front of a packed stadium crowd. "It's hard to describe how difficult it is to play a first match after so much time off.

"Going into the match, I know I have the ability to win, but it's all about actually winning. So this is the best result, to play a good match and win. I'm here with my friends, family, people I love, and the fans, too, who I love and they love me, so this has been just a beautiful night."

Williams sealed the historic result on her sixth match point, after missing out on four on return at 5-3 and then saving a break point while serving out the victory at 5-4. She hit nine aces on the night.

Her past two singles wins have come against players in the Top 35 of the WTA rankings. Before beating world No. 35 Stearns, she defeated then-world No. 16 Veronika Kudermetova in 2023 in Cincinnati.