Venus
Williams obtained a wild card for the WTA 250
Cleveland Open and will play
against
Mirra Andreeva in the first round.
The
43-year-old American will return to compete in a tournament starting from
Monday, August 21st.
Venus Williams had planned to play in the Canadian Open and
Cincinnati Open and then prepare for the US Open, but it has been confirmed
that she received a wild card from the organization in Cleveland.
The former
world No. 1 achieved her best victory in four years by defeating the world No.
16 Veronika Kudermetova, but she fell in the second round to China's Zheng
Qinwen with a score of 6-1, 2-6, 1-6.
Tournament
director Kyle Ross expressed his delight in having the 7-time Grand Slam
champion in the tournament:
"It is
a special thing to see Venus Williams. I want to be clear she is still really
good. Last week, she beat the 14th ranked player in the world. She's an icon of
the game. She's changed the sport, not just in terms of what she's done on the
court, but as a leader and pioneer. She changed what tennis means to a lot of
people," he said.
The main
draw draw determined that Williams will face the young star Mirraa Andreeva,
who is 16 years old. The Russian tennis player quickly entered the WTA tour,
surprising by reaching the round of 16 at the Madrid Open, the third round at
Roland Garros, and the fourth round at Wimbledon. She achieved these milestones
in both Grand Slams, surpassing the three qualifying matches.
Andreeva is
the youngest player in the top 200 and has a 27-year age difference with
Williams. In fact, when Andreeva was born, Williams already had 34 titles,
including five Grand Slams and six more finals.
Fans took
to their social media to comment on the intriguing match between the two
athletes. Here are some of the tweets that were posted after the news: