Venus Williams is a winner on the WTA Tour once again.After a 16-month hiatus, the 45-year-old accepted a wildcard for the Citi Open in Washington DC, and returned to the court for an all-American first-round showdown.Williams made a victorious comeback at 45-years-old in Washington DCGettyVenus Williams stormed past World No. 35 Peyton Stearns on Tuesday night, winning 6-3, 6-4 in just one hour and 37 minutes.At 45-years old, she has become the oldest player to win a tour-level singles match since then-47-year-old Martina Navratilova beat Catalina Castano at Wimbledon in 2004 — over two decades ago.“My queen,” four-time Grand Slam singles champion Naomi Osaka posted on social media, along with a crown and tearful face emojis and five hearts.Williams also made her doubles return earlier this week, teaming up with Hailey Baptiste to defeat the pairing of Eugenie Bouchard and Clervie Ngounoue.After that match, the former World No. 1 aimed a cheeky dig at sister Serena Williams, by joking she enjoyed playing with Baptiste more than her younger sibling.Venus was in good form again after her singles victory, and explained that she has returned to tennis to ‘get her benefits on’.“I had to come back for the insurance,” the US star said.“They informed me this year that I’m on COBRA. So it’s like, I’ve got to get my benefits on — and I started training.”As she chuckled away with the crowd, the post-match interviewer admitted that ‘insurance is hard’, which led to another revelation from Williams.She added: “Let me tell you, I’m always at the doctor, so I need this insurance.”As well as joking that she has returned for the on-tour benefits, Williams also described her singles comeback as a ‘beautiful night’ in DC.Williams had not played on the tour for 16 months but returned with a winGetty“You know, it’s the first step, and the first match is always extremely difficult,” she said.“It’s hard to describe how difficult it is to play a first match after so much time off.“So going into the match, I know I have the ability to win, but it’s all about actually winning.“So this is the best result, to play a good match and win.“I’m here with my friends, family, people I love, and the fans, too, who I love and they love me, so this has been just a beautiful night.”Against Stearns — who is 22 years her junior — Williams was already the oldest player to contest a tour-level singles match since then-46 year-old Kimiko Date lost her first-round match at Tokyo in 2017.Williams joked she has ‘returned for the benefits’ after beating StearnsGettyThanks to her victory, the returning American will now get the chance to contest at least one more, and is set to face Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the Round of 16.Why did Venus Williams stop playing tennis?Before her win on Tuesday, the former No. 1-ranked Williams had not played an official singles match since March 2024 in Miami.She had recently opened up about health struggles that kept her off the court, including surgery last year to remove fibroids — painful but benign tumors that grow in the wall of the uterus.“My health journey was very scary,” Williams said. “You know, this time a year ago I was preparing to go to surgery.“There was no way for me to play tennis or play the US Open. I was just trying to get healthy.”Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam champion, has previously declined wildcard entries, but felt up to the challenge this year.“Most of the time I don’t (take up the offer to play as a wildcard),” she said last weekend.Williams suffered health issues as she took a hiatus from the tourGetty“But this time I had been hitting the ball. And of course I love the game and the hard courts, it’s my favourite surface, what I feel comfortable on. So all those different factors.”How did Williams play in her singles comeback?Against Stearns, Williams was made to work hard.She dropped serve at love in the first game of the match, before she cranked her returns up and immediately got the break back.The veteran continued to press Stearns into errors before she collected the opening set.In the second, the 23-year-old American went on a 10-point run that saw her take a 3-1 lead, but once again, Williams struck back.A booming serve helped Williams wrap up her returning victoryGettyWith some big plays of her own, Venus reeled off the next four games to lead 5-3.She then had four match points in the game that followed, but Stearns pulled it back to 5-4 before setting up a break point of her own.Williams survived once more, avoiding that danger — and a booming serve saw her close out a huge 6-3, 6-4 victory.“I think it was a big win for me today,” the legend said post-game.“Like I said, it’s not easy. It won’t be easy. It’s not easy for anyone out here.“So I know I’ll have to fight for every match, but I’m up for that.”