Venus Williams received a “wild card” for the US Open

Venus Williams received a “wild card” to participate in the US Open Tennis Championship, which begins on August 28. The American won the title in New York in 2000 and 2001 and has a total of seven Grand Slam titles. The older of the Williams sisters made her debut at Flushing Meadows in 1997 and reached the final.

Venus Williams, 43, was sidelined for nearly six months with an injury. At the moment, the former leader in the world ranking is playing at the WTA 1000 Western & Southern Open tournament in Cincinnati, where in a match of the first round she eliminated Veronika Kudermetova (Russia) after 2-0 (6:4, 7:5).

The American, currently ranked 533rd in the WTA rankings, has 49 singles titles in her career.

Venus Williams is a former world No 1 in both singles and doubles. She has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, five at Wimbledon and two at the US Open. She is widely regarded as one of the all-time greats of the sport. She first reached the singles world No. 1 ranking on 25 February 2002, becoming the first African American woman to do so in the Open era.