Key events
The players have completed their tunnel interviews. Now they’ve come through the tunnel onto Ashe, which is a little under half-full with the crowds in the fountain plaza still making their way inside. Chair umpire Katarzyna Radwan-Cho oversees the coin toss. Muchova, wearing an all-purple kit, calls tails. It’s heads and Williams, in a classic all-white tennis dress with matching visor and sneakers, elects to serve first. We should be under way in about five minutes after the players go through their warm-ups.
Preamble
It is hard to imagine the US Open without Venus Williams. For more than a quarter of a century the American has been as much a part of the Flushing Meadows landscape as blue courts, Honey Deuce cocktails and Arthur Ashe Stadium, all of which her 31-year professional career predates. Tonight she will step onto that court for a record-extending 25th main-draw appearance at her home grand slam, facing the 11th seed, Karolína Muchová of the Czech Republic, in an opening-round clash between two players at very different stages of their careers.
Williams, now 45 years old and ranked outside the world’s top 600, has long since guaranteed her place in tennis history. She lifted the US Open trophy in 2000 and 2001, part of a haul of seven major singles titles that also includes five at Wimbledon. Her power-baseline game helped redefine women’s tennis when she broke through as a teenager, and while the results have inevitably slowed, her appetite for competition has not dimmed. This will be only her third tournament since Miami last year, following tune-ups in Washington DC and Cincinnati, but her presence alone carries significance. The last time she faced a top-20 opponent was back in 2023 at Cincinnati, where she beat world No 16 Veronika Kudermetova.
The challenge tonight could hardly be steeper. Muchová, the world No 13, has become one of the tour’s most complete and dangerous performers when healthy. She won their only previous meeting in the second round of the 2020 US Open and has since compiled an impressive résumé on the biggest stages. A French Open finalist in 2023, she has reached the last four in New York for two years running, including last September when she was stopped by Jessica Pegula. Her all-court game, mixing variety, touch and tactical intelligence, has proved a match for the very best, even if injuries have slowed her momentum at times.
Muchová’s rise over the past 12 months has been striking: she was ranked No 52 this time last year, but now sits on the edge of the top 10. Her first-round record at majors is solid (15-9 overall, 5-2 at the US Open), and she will be strongly favored to advance. Yet Williams has made a career of defying the odds and delivering under the lights in New York. Whether this is another fleeting cameo or a turn-back-the-clock performance from an all-time great, the scene is set for an intriguing encounter that blends nostalgia with present-day ambition.
Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s his lookahead to Venus Williams’s record-extending 25th appearance at the US Open.
