The U.S. Tennis Association has awarded Venus Williams a wild card for the 2025 U.S. Open singles draw, clearing the 45-year-old to contest her 25th main-draw appearance at Flushing Meadows after a two-year absence from Grand Slam play. Williams, a two-time U.S. Open champion, will be the oldest player in a singles field at any major since Renée Richards competed at age 47 in 1981. Singles matches begin on Aug. 24; the American had already accepted a wild card for next week’s mixed-doubles event alongside Reilly Opelka. The elder Williams last featured at a Grand Slam in 2023, exiting in the first round, and has not won a singles match in New York since 2019. She returned to the tour in July following surgery to remove uterine fibroids, winning one match in Washington before early exits in subsequent tournaments.