Venus Williams will take to the tennis court again this year after receiving a main draw wild card at the Tunisia Jasmine Open.
The American veteran was not initially scheduled to compete but was given a wild card to compete in singles and, surprisingly, doubles matches. This will be her eighth time competing this year.
In doubles she will be paired with local favorite Once Jabr. Williams has not played doubles tennis since joining forces with sister Serena Williams at the 2022 U.S. Open.
Interestingly, the Tunisian number one also played doubles tennis with Serena Williams at the 2022 Eastbourne Open. The pair defeated experienced pairings such as Hideko Aoyama and Haoqing Chen, as well as Marie Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tomo, to reach the semi-finals of the WTA 500 tournament.
Once Jabr also received a wild card into the home singles event and was the top seed. Jasmin Paolini, defending champion Elise Mertens and Martina Trevisan round out the top 4 seeds in the tournament.
The Jasmin Open will be held from October 16th to 22nd at the Monastir Tennis Club in Tunisia. The winner of the WTA 250 tournament will receive a cash prize of $259,303.
Venus Williams’ performance in 2023 at a glance
At 43 years old, Venus Williams is one of the oldest and most successful tennis players on the WTA Tour. She is coming off a strong season in her 29th year as a pro and has several wins against top opponents.
Her win records this year are 3 and 7. She started her new year with a first-round win over Katie Wolinec at the Auckland Open in January.
Due to physical issues and injuries, she did not play another tournament until June, returning to competition at the Roosemalen Open in Libema, Netherlands. The seven-time Grand Slam champion’s next victory on tour came at the Birmingham Classic, where she defeated Top 50 opponent Camila Giorgi.
At the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati in August, Venus Williams recorded her biggest win since 2019. She improved on then-world No. 16 Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 7-5 in the first round.
At the Grand Slam level, she had no wins, being eliminated in the first round at Wimbledon and the US Open by Elina Svitolina and Gerrit Minning respectively. Venus Williams is currently ranked 406th in the world.
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