Serena Williams’ husband and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian couldn’t contain his excitement as his sister-in-law Venus Williams clinched her first singles win in nearly two years at the 2025 Mubadala Citi DC Open. Taking to Instagram to celebrate the moment, Ohanian offered a powerful message of support.
Venus Williams Returns to Form With First Singles Win Since 2023
The seven-time Grand Slam singles champion returned to the court in Washington, D.C. this week after battling through a 16-month hiatus caused by recurring injuries, which halted her return at Indian Wells earlier this year.
Her 6-3, 6-4 victory over fellow American Peyton Stearns in the first round marked her 819th career singles win and her first since August 2023, when she defeated Veronika Kudermetova at the Cincinnati Open. The win made her the oldest player to clinch a WTA-level singles match since Martina Navratilova did so at Wimbledon in 2004, when she was 47.
It’s like she never left 😮💨@Venuseswilliams defeats Stearns 6-3, 6-4 to reach the second round in the United States capital.#MubadalaCitiDCOpen pic.twitter.com/r38pH63jCt
— wta (@WTA) July 23, 2025
Williams’ return to singles competition after a 709-day drought drew attention from her close-knit family. Ohanian shared a message on his Instagram Stories shortly after the match, writing, “LFG @venuswilliams,” an abbreviation for “Let’s F**king Go.”
Williams now faces fifth seed Magdalena Fręch in the second round of singles play, while her doubles pairing with Hailey Baptiste moves forward to the quarterfinals, where they will face second seeds Taylor Townsend and Zhang Shuai.
Venus Breaks Silence on Rumors Surrounding Serena’s Return
At a pre-tournament press conference where her own comeback was the focus, Venus was asked about the chances of her sister Serena making a surprise return to the WTA Tour. Praising her sister’s natural talent, Venus said, “She can take six months off and she clocks it clean. You can’t teach that kind of talent. She’s just so good.”
Venus noted she doesn’t press Serena about future plans: “I don’t know what she’s going to do. I don’t ask those questions. I think we always hit the ball, because that’s who we are, we’re always hitting. Quite frankly, it’s great cardio. You get great legs and great arms from tennis, quiet as it’s kept. So obviously, that’s part of her goal, too, to stay in shape.”
Reflecting on the emotional side of competing without her sister, Venus shared: “I keep saying to my team, the only thing that would make this better is if she was here, like we always did everything together, so of course I miss her. But if she comes back, I’m sure she’ll let y’all know.”
