Venus Williams sets new record at Australian Open

Venus Williams has set a record as the oldest singles player at the Australian Open tennis tournament.

Playing her first-round match in Melbourne at the age of 45, the sister of tennis superstar Serena Williams got off to a great start.

Up two service breaks in the third set on Sunday, she was within sight of victory when Olga Danilovic rallied to win six straight games and beat the American 6-7, 6-3, 6-4.

"At 4-0, I felt good. It's the biggest lead I've had since I've been back. In a lot of ways, I'm having to relearn how to do things again," said Venus, who will continue her campaign in the doubles competition.

"I'm really proud of my effort today because I'm playing better with each match, getting to the places that I want to get to. Right now, I'm just going to have to keep going forward and working on myself and working to control my errors.

Venus has been ranked as the world No. 1 in both women's singles and doubles by the Women's Tennis Association. She has won 49 WTA Tour-level singles titles, including seven majors, as well as a gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Her life was dramatised in the 2021 film King Richard, starring Will Smith as her coach and father, Richard Williams.

Venus, who served as executive producer on the film, was played by Saniyya Sidney.