Venus Williams - the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion - made a winning comeback to tennis at the age of 45, as she joined compatriot Hailey Baptiste to defeat Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard and US teenager Clervie Ngounoue 6-3, 6-1 in a first-round match at the DC Open in Washington. This ended Venus' 16-month hiatus. Venus will also compete in the singles on Tuesday against American Peyton Stearns. Her comeback match was attended by about 3,000 spectators, including NBA star Kevin Durant.

“After the match, Hailey asked me, ‘How did that feel?’ It’s probably even harder to play the doubles first because I’m not a doubles player,” Williams said.

“So it’s great to have her to kind of hold the team up. She has had the experience. She served first because she has been playing all year and playing well. I think that helped me a lot,” she added.

“I think also just to get the feel for the ball. Obviously, in singles, I have a little more experience, even though in doubles, I have had some great results. It’s just nice to be able to play. Where I am this year is so much different from where I was 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,” Venus said.

Williams, who was playing doubles for the first time in three years, joked that she wished she could have partnered with 23-year-old Baptiste - the world number 50 - instead of her sister Serena, the 23-time major champion.

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.”

Venus, who does not currently have a ranking, won 14 major titles alongside Serena in women’s doubles, as the Williams sisters dominated the sport for many years.