"You're never too young or too old to win" - Venus Williams on facing her next challenge at the Cincinnati Open

After many months of speculation on whether she would ever return to the tour, WTA icon Venus Williams quelled those fears with a second round appearance at last month's DC Open. Subsequently the 45-year old was given a wildcard entry to the upcoming Cincinnati Open, where she hopes to compete on her own terms.

Prior to her appearance in Washington last month, Williams had been out of action for over 16 months. The former World No.1 was dealing with injuries and health issues which forced her to spend an extended amount of time on the sidelines.

Nonetheless, the American made her triumphant return to tennis at the DC Open, where she shocked the tennis community by defeating compatriot and World No.37 Peyton Stearns in the opening round. Although Williams would lose in the second round to fifth seed Magdalena Frech, the 45-year old had shown she still had the game to remain competitive with her much younger WTA colleagues.

Williams is set to kick off her campaign in Cincinnati against in-form Spaniard Jessica Bouzas Maneiro. This will be her third match after a lengthy layoff, but the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion wants people to know she is ready for whatever challenge awaits.

“I feel great,” said Williams ahead of her return to the Cincinnati Open. “If there’s the one thing I know, it’s that you’re never too young or too old to win or to lose. Winning and losing knows no age.
“I think that, at the end of the day, you have to live your life on your own terms. Your terms should be yours. It doesn’t matter what anyone else says or what anyone else thinks. If you get to live life on your own terms, it’s a life well-lived, and I firmly believe in that.
"I do what I do because I want to live life the way I want to, unapologetically, with no regrets, on my terms. Do my terms always come out the way I want them to? No. But at least I tried to live on my own terms, and that’s super important to me. That would be my advice: make your terms, and don’t surrender."