VENUS WILLIAMS made a winning return to action after 16 months out with doubles victory alongside Hailey Baptiste in Washington today.

The 45-year-old seven-time grand slam tournament winner accepted a wildcard to compete in the DC Open this week.

She and fellow American Baptiste proved too strong for Eugenie Bouchard and Clervie Ngounoue as they triumphed 6-3 6-1 in a last-16 encounter that lasted 72 minutes.

Her comeback will continue as she takes on another American in Peyton Stearns in the first round of the singles. It is Williams’s first appearances in a WTA Tour event since March 2024.

“It was great to come out here and see the energy,” Williams said on Sky Sports after the match. “As we were walking out to the court, we knew this was going to be a match.

“Our opponents actually played very well. It wasn’t easy for us but we brought it together quickly as a team. It was inspiring to be out here. I love this game and still hitting it big.”

Williams joked she wished she could have partnered with Baptiste, the 23-year-old world number 50, years earlier rather than playing with her sister Serena.

She said: “I think from the first point, I could see that we were going to be a good team. We just should have started playing earlier, years ago, right? I think Serena was just in the way!”

Britain’s Emma Raducanu scored an eye-catching win on her doubles debut alongside former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.

Competing together for the first time, the duo fought back from an early deficit to beat fourth seeds Tereza Mihalikova and Britain’s Olivia Nicholls 2-6 7-6 (4) 11-9 in a decisive tie-break set.

It was a notable win for Raducanu and Rybakina against opponents who triumphed at the Berlin Open last month and also reached the final at Indian Wells earlier this year.

British number one Katie Boulter fell at the first hurdle in the singles as she went out 3-6 4-6 to Greece’s Maria Sakkari.

Boulter lost her opening service game in each set and was never able to regain the initiative.

Earlier, former men’s singles champion Dan Evans enjoyed a triumphant return to the tournament as he came from behind to beat Zizou Bergs.

Evans, the veteran former British number one, triumphed in 2023 but opted not to defend his title last year as he focused on the Olympics.

The 35-year-old was awarded a wildcard to participate this time and took advantage as he overcame a slow start to beat the Belgian Bergs, the world number 52, 3-6 6-4 6-3.

Bergs looked to have resisted the fightback when he edged back ahead with a break in the final set but Evans powered back to secure victory by winning four successive games.

“I didn’t just want to take the wildcard and lose,” Evans said on Sky Sports. “I felt I needed to pay them back a bit and try to ‘defend’ my title, because I couldn’t last year.

“It was great, really enjoyed it, but it was rally difficult. There wasn’t much rhythm. He played very well and I was lucky to come through that.”