Venus Williams battled bravely before suffering a first-round defeat on her return to the US Open on Tuesday, losing in three sets to 11th seed Karolina Muchova.

Williams, 45, only returned to competitive tennis in July following a 16-month absence from the sport, and had been granted a wild card into the main draw at Flushing Meadows.

But the American tennis icon was unable to prolong her stay in the championship past the first hurdle, falling to a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 defeat against her 29-year-old Czech opponent, who had not even been born when Williams turned professional in 1994.

Williams had not played a Grand Slam singles event since exiting in the first round of the US Open in 2023, and had not won a match at Grand Slam level since reaching the second round at Wimbledon in 2021.

Yet o

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