Aged yet resilient, the two 40+ Grand Slam champions are back in action this week!

In the second week following Wimbledon, several hard-court tournaments officially kick off, marking the professional tennis circuit's entry into the 2025 US Open season. Events in Washington, Prague, and others are capturing fans' attention, with multiple Chinese players competing this week; however, today we focus on two familiar faces on the tour.

Born on June 17, 1980, Venus Williams has turned 45 and is competing this week with a wild card in her hometown event—the WTA 500 tournament in Washington, participating in both singles and doubles.

In women's doubles, Venus teamed up with fellow American Baptiste to face Bouchard/Ngounou in the first round, ultimately sweeping her opponents with a score of 6-3, 6-1, marking her first WTA doubles victory in seven years.

In singles, Venus faced compatriot Stearns in the first round, winning with a score of 6-3, 6-4. The American veteran has also become the oldest player to win a match in the main draw of a WTA tour event since Martina Navratilova (47) at Wimbledon in 2004.

However, in the recently concluded second round, Venus lost to the fifth seed Fletcher with a score of 2-6, 2-6. From her first tour victory at just 14 years old in 1994 to her 819th win at 45 in 2025, Venus Williams' legend continues, and she has reportedly secured a wild card for next week’s Cincinnati tournament.

Notably, during the Washington tournament, Venus revealed her relationship status, stating that she is engaged to a 37-year-old actor and producer. “Actually, my fiancé is right here; he has been really encouraging me to keep playing.”

Another veteran worth noting is Swiss player Wawrinka, who was the men's singles champion at the ATP Umag tournament in 2006. This year, he made another appearance in the main draw, defeating a qualifying player in the first round with a score of 6-4, 6-1 to advance to the second round.

This marked Wawrinka's second tour victory of the season at 40 years old. After exiting in the first round of this year's French Open, he has faced numerous questions about retirement, but he made it clear that he has no intention of stopping at this moment.

“Yes, I’m definitely nearing the end, but I won’t stop right now, that’s for sure, because I’m getting closer to my goals each week, and overall, I’m playing pretty well and moving well; I still enjoy competing.”

Like Venus, Wawrinka also exited in the second round, losing to the tournament's fourth seed, Juhler, with a score of 4-6, 5-7.

We look forward to seeing more victories and surprises from these 40+ veterans in the future!(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Barbie)