Serena Williams' tear-jerking message to Venus after sister, 45, loses on US Open return

Serena Williams sent a heartfelt message to her sister, Venus, after she made her return to the US Open. Aged 45, the elder Williams sister took a wildcard into her home Grand Slam tournament and was handed a tough draw, facing No. 11 seed Karolina Muchova.

But she refused to go down without a fight, and stormed through the second set on Arthur Ashe Stadium before losing 6-3 2-6 6-1. It was Williams' first appearance in Flushing Meadows in two years, and her younger sister, Serena, was moved by her performance.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion shared a montage of photos of Williams' first-round match to her Instagram account and wrote: "Strength, courage, determination, class, perseverance, inspiration... there's not enough words to describe how proud I am of you @VenusWilliams P.S. I hope to be like you."

Williams was also proud of herself after pushing the No. 11 seed to a third and final set, even though she ran out of gas in the decider.

"Yeah, I definitely had a bit of a slow start, but it's not really a bad thing. I just haven't played a lot of matches, so I'm still finding everything," the two-time former US Open champion said after the match.

"I think I had a Love-40 game, and I was like, 'Oh no, not a double break'. Thankfully, that was avoided, at least in that set. And I was really able to start to dial into my game. I didn't win today, but I'm very proud of how I played."

Williams returned from a 16-month hiatus earlier this summer in Washington, where she reached the second round in both singles and doubles. She became the oldest player to win a WTA Tour match since 2004.

In her last appearance at the US Open in 2023, the former world No. 1 suffered a brutal 6-1 6-1 defeat to Greet Minnen.

But it was a different story on Monday night under the lights on the Arthur Ashe Stadium, and Williams became emotional when she reflected on her comeback so far.

"Oh, what did I prove to myself? I think for me getting back on the court was about giving myself a chance to play more healthy," she added, tearing up.

"When you play unhealthy, it's in your mind. It's not just how you feel. You get stuck in your mind too. So... it was nice to be freer."

It's not known if and when Williams will play again. The seven-time Major winner left things up in the air after her admirable defeat to Muchova, explaining that she didn't want to travel too far for tournaments anymore.

She said: "Are there any tournaments in the States? Can someone move a tournament here? I don't know that I'm willing to travel that far at this stage in my career to go play.

"I love playing. The level of my game has come up so much since D.C. I tried as hard as I could to throw off any rust, but at the end of the day, there's only so much that can really be accomplished in three or four matches."

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