(Reuters) – Former world no. 1 Venus Williams will make her singles comeback after nearly a year at next month’s WTA 1000 tournament in Toronto, joining her sister Serena at the event.
Venus, a seven-time Grand Slam champion, was awarded a wild card into the main draw for the Aug. 6-15 National Bank Open on Wednesday.
The 42-year-old last played a singles match at the Chicago Women’s Open in August 2021, where she lost in the first round to Hsieh Su-Wei.
Her most recent return to court was when she teamed up with Britain’s Jamie Murray and reached the second round in the mixed doubles at Wimbledon.
Venus’s sister and 23-times major winner Serena elected to use her protected ranking to enter the main draw in Toronto, where world number one Iga Swiatek, four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka and U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu are also on the entry list.
(Reporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)