Venus Williams made history as the oldest woman to ever play the Australian Open on Sunday but the 45-year-old fell at the first hurdle after an epic battle with an opponent more than 20 years her junior.
The American seven-time Grand Slam champion was handed a wildcard for Melbourne, five years after she last appeared at the major.
It attracted some flak amid concerns that it deprived a younger player of the opportunity, compounded by Williams losing first-round matches at both her warm-up tournaments.
The ageless veteran showed she still has what it takes in patches, pushing 24-year-old Serbian Olga Danilovic all the way before losing the last six games to crash out 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-4 in a gruelling 2hrs 17mins.
“Not easy,” said Danilovic. “I told myself before the match, I really want to take this moment, and I cannot say enjoy, because it’s tough to enjoy at the moment on court.
“But these things don’t happen every day, and playing against Venus Williams is something that I cannot take for granted.
“There was a lot of nerves. I just said to myself, ‘Okay, just play, just take everything out and just play point by point’.
“I’m very happy I managed to get this one, but it was such a pleasure playing such a legend.”
After getting a standing ovation, the former world No 1 Williams, now ranked 576, made a promising start, breaking the 69th-ranked Danilovic’s first service game.
