NEW YORK (AP) — It's a given that much of the coverage and attention devoted to Venus Williams' return to the U.S. Open, where play begins Sunday, has focused — and will focus — on how old she is. The American is, after all, 45, an age at which no one has competed in singles in New York since 1981. That, in and of itself, is noteworthy.

And yet there is plenty more that is significant about her first appearance at a Grand Slam tournament in two full years, regardless of how Williams plays in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday night when meets Karolina Muchova, the 2023 French Open runner-up and a two-time semifinalist in New York. “I want to be my best, and that’s the expectation I have for myself: to get the best out of me. And that’s all any player can ask for,” Williams said Saturday. “I ha

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