NEW YORK (AP) — Venus Williams played her first Grand Slam match in two years on Monday night at the U.S. Open, facing 2023 French Open runner-up Karolina Muchova in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Williams dropped the opening set 6-3. She started slowly, ceding 11 of the initial 13 points and falling behind 2-0. With members of the crowd shouting, “Let's go, Venus!” and roaring after her winners, Williams took the next three games to go ahead 3-2, before Muchova grabbed the next four to claim the set.

At age 45, Williams is the oldest singles player at the hard-court tournament since Renee Richards was 47 in 1981. She wasn't exactly easing into things Monday: Muchova, a 29-year-old from the Czech Republic, was seeded 11th in New York and made it to the semifinals there in both 2023 — when she lost

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