Venus Williams awarded wild-card entry for Australian Open

Venus Williams has been awarded a wild-card entry to play at the Australian Open next month: 25 years after she played the Grand Slam tournament for the first time.

The 42-year-old Williams has reached the final twice in Australia, including a loss to her younger sister, Serena, in the 2017 championship match. She will be contesting the season-opening major for the 22nd time.

“I’ve been competing in the country for over 20 years now and the Australian community has always supported me wholeheartedly,” the seven-time major winner said in a statement.

Venus and Serena Williams combined to win the Australian Open women’s doubles title four times, and Venus also won the mixed doubles title in 1998 with fellow American Justin Gimelstob.

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