Venus Williams set to break age record at the Australian Open on Sunday

Key Highlights

• Let’s do this.”She then left the auditorium and walked hand-in-hand with her husband, Andrea Preti, down a corridor back toward the player area, which isn't much like she remembered it from her previous trip in 2021, the 21st time she'd competed at Melbourne Park. Williams was married in December, a celebration she said was her priority between the first two major tournaments in a comeback to the tour that started last July. She was 17 when she first played the Australian Open in 1998, reaching the quarterfinals in just her fourth Grand Slam event and coming off the back of a run to the final of the U. S.
• Open. Williams was 17 when she first played the Australian Open in 1998 (AP)“It was a beautiful time, because there’s so much I didn’t know,” she said when asked to reflect on her first trip.
• "But there’s a great thing of not knowing because it lets you have a clean slate.
• There was so much I needed to learn, and then I learned it. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“That’s the thing about sport - you keep stepping up to the line, and while there is nothing to prove, it’s all about the attitude and the effort.
• No one can control that.