Emotional Venus Williams ‘very proud’ of her performance in US Open defeat to Karolína Muchová
Venus Williams acknowledges the crowd after losing to Karolina Muchova as a wild card at the 2025 U.S. Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
By Matias Grez
(CNN) — It certainly wasn’t the grand slam return Venus Williams will have dreamed of, but the 45-year-old said she is leaving the US Open feeling “very proud” of the level of tennis she found at times during her 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 first-round defeat to Karolína Muchová.
A lively crowd on Arthur Ashe roared and whooped throughout the contest, trying to drive Williams – the oldest singles player at the US Open since 1981 – on to a dramatic win against the Czech No. 11 seed.
For a while, as Williams swept through the second set playing arguably her best tennis in years, it looked as though an upset could be on the cards. In the end, however, it was a level she was unable to sustain as Muchová dominated the deciding set.
“I definitely had a bit of a slow start, but it’s not really a bad thing,” Williams told reporters after the match. “I just haven’t played a lot of matches, so I’m still finding everything … I didn’t win today, but I’m very proud of how I played.
“The lights are very bright out there. I don’t think I’ve ever had a crowd that much on my side. When I lost those first two games, they were just still right there with me every point. Didn’t matter if I was losing and it was starting to roll fast, they were just right there with me, and it felt great.
“I knew going into this match that people in this stadium, people in the United States, people around the world were really rooting for me, and that felt great. That felt great to have that kind of support.”
Williams was playing in her first grand slam since the 2023 US Open, and this was only her fourth competitive match since she returned to tennis in July after 16 months away.
Williams revealed last month that she had undergone surgery to remove fibroids from her uterus, a condition she said had affected her career and life for years.
Of course, the US Open is a place where Williams has enjoyed some special memories. She won two of her seven grand slam titles here in 2000 and 2001, and made her first grand slam final in 1997 at the age of 17.
Williams admits she has no plans now after her US Open exit. She won’t be playing at September’s Guadalajara Open, which sits more than 5,000 feet above sea level – “I don’t play at altitude either, so I won’t be going,” Williams said.
What about the Australian Open? “That’s kind of far too,” she laughed.
Williams said she trained relentlessly for the last three months to prepare herself for the US Open, never seeing friends or even going to dinner with her team.
“I haven’t done anything except train,” she said.
It’s the kind of work ethic that helped earn Williams numerous accolades throughout her career. When asked if she had proved anything to herself over these past few weeks, the emotion took over and her eyes welled with tears.
“I think for me, getting back on the court was about giving myself a chance to play more healthy,” Williams explained.
“When you play unhealthy, it’s in your mind. It’s not just how you feel. You get stuck in your mind too. So it was nice to be freer.”
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