American Venus Williams became the oldest female professional tennis player to win in 21 years after winning 6-3, 6-4 against her compatriot Peyton Stearns at the Washington tournament with a prize fund of 1.282 million dollars.
The 45-year-old representative of the hosts is competing for a "wild card" in the capital and became the oldest tennis player to win in the main draw since 2004, when Martina Navratilova prevailed 6-0, 6-1 over Catalina Castaño of Colombia at Wimbledon.
A day earlier, Williams and Haley Baptiste prevailed 6-3, 6-1 against Eugenie Bouchard and Clervy Ngunu in the doubles.
The American, who made her debut in Oakland in 1994, last won a match in 2023, when she defeated Veronika Kudermetova at the Cincinnati tournament.
Her last title was in 2008, when she lifted the Wimbledon trophy.
Williams' next match is against Polish Magdalena French, who is ranked 24th in the world rankings.
"I was training a lot and wondering if I had managed to raise the level. There were days with great progress and at one point I started to feel that my form was returning. "But before the tournament, I realized I needed a lot more," Williams said.
The American recorded six breaks against Stearns, who is the US college champion in singles and doubles.
Williams, however, also wasted five match points before winning the tenth game of the second set on her own serve for the final 6-3, 6-4.
Japan's Naomi Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion, defeated Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan 6-2, 7-5 and will next face British tennis player and 2021 US Open winner Emma Ruducanu, who eliminated Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk 7-6(4), 6-4.
The 2023 Washington runner-up Maria Sakkari of Greece also qualified for the second round after 6-3. 6:4 over Great Britain's Katie Boulter.
For a place in the quarterfinals, she will meet No. 2 in the schedule Emma Navarro from the United States.