NEW YORK (AP) — Venus Williams has started 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.

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 to eventual champion Coco Gauff in a match interrupted by a climate protest — and 2024.

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