Veteran tennis player Venus Williams has been assigned a wildcard to compete at the Australian Open in January.
The 42-year-old will be back in the tournament after making her debut 25 years ago.
The seven-time singles Grand Slam champion reached the Australian Open final in 2003 and she lost to her sister Serena in 2017.
The five-time Australian Open doubles champion expressed her joy at the prospect of returning to Australia.
“I am very excited to be returning to Melbourne. It will be an honour to play for the fans again,” she said.
“I’ve been competing in the country for over 20 years now and the Australian community has always supported me wholeheartedly.
“I’m looking forward to making more memories at the tournament this year,” Venus hoped.
Williams, ranked 1,007th in the world, had her last competitive singles match in August, a first-round defeat at the US Open.
She only competed in four tournaments in 2022 and will return to the tournament at Melbourne Park without her sister Serena after the latter announced at the US Open that she was ready to “evolve away” from tennis.
