In March 1996, at just 15 years of age, a young tennis player with white braids, Venus Williams, made her debut at Indian Wells, a tournament that was eventually won by Steffi Graf, after beating Conchita Martinez, 7-6 and 7-6
Thirty years later, the eldest of the saga is still on the court with the challenge of beating all longevity records at 45 years old. Thanks to a wild card, with which Indian Wells wanted to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Venus’ debut in its tournament, the American jumped on the court again, although she succumbed to Frenchwoman Diane Parry, in three sets, 6-3, 6-7(4) and 6-1, in two hours and 21 minutes.
Despite the defeat, Venus is close to some of the longevity records held by Martina Navratilova, who has a mark of 32 years and 107 days between the first and last tournament of her sporting career
For now, the older of the Williams sisters has accumulated 31 years and 125 days in the ranking because before Indian Wells, she made her debut on the women’s circuit in Oakland in 1994.
Since returning to professional tennis last summer, the American has not had much luck in singles, where she has been eliminated in the first round except for the tournament in Washington, where she reached the second round. In doubles, she reached the quarterfinals at the last US Open with Canada’s Leylah Fernandez.
With 49 WTA titles to her name, seven Grand Slams (five Wimbledon and two US Open) and an Olympic gold medal (2000), Venus Williams reached number one in February 2002. In addition, in more than 30 years of competition, she has won more than $42 million in prize money.
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