Catalina castano

Venus Williams: In her first singles match in 16 months, former World No. 1 Venus Williams stormed past World No. 35 Peyton Stearns 6-3, 6-4 in the DC Open women's singles first-round match on Wednesday (IST).

The 45-year-old Venus became the oldest player to win a tour-level singles match since then-47-year-old Martina Navratilova beat Catalina Castano at 2004 Wimbledon -- over 21 years ago.

"It's the first step, and the first match is always extremely difficult. It's hard to describe how difficult it is to play a first match after so much time off. So going into the match, I know I have the ability to win, but it's all about actually winning. So this is the best result, to play a good match and win. I'm here with my friends, family, people I love, and the fans, too, who I love and they love me, so this has been just a beautiful night," Venus said after the match.