Venus Williams courts attention in Washington as she wins on return to tennis

WASHINGTON — Competing at a tournament for the first time in more than a year, and in doubles for the first time in nearly three, Venus Williams hit a big serve on her initial delivery at the DC Open on Monday and, curiously, it was wiped out by a foot-fault call.

The 45-year-old Williams, an owner of 21 Grand Slam titles across singles and doubles, smiled incredulously, as did the other three players involved in the match in front of a full crowd that eventually included NBA star Kevin Durant. Williams, though, carried on, displaying her trademark power on some strokes, while teaming up with Hailey Baptiste for a 6-3, 6-1 victory against 2014 Wimbledon runner-up Eugenie Bouchard and Clervie Ngounoue.

"It's just nice to be able to play. Where I am at this year is so much different to where I was at last year. It's night and day, being able to be here and prepare for the tournament, as opposed to preparing for surgery a year ago," said Williams, who spoke in an interview with NBC earlier this month about having a procedure to remove fibroids from her uterus. "At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter if your health is not there. So, it definitely put it in perspective for me, and maybe made it easier to make the decision to come back out here and, maybe, play even freer."