:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/metroworldnews/OWNCSVJJN5DOFB7HGURPNCSEGI.jpg "Venus Williams invited to compete in Toronto Open – Metro World News")
TORONTO (AP) — Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams has been invited to compete at the Toronto Open next month as a lead player.
The American will compete in Toronto for the first time since 2019 and return to action in a WTA Tour singles competition for the first time since August 2021.
The former world number one and five-time Wimbledon champion last played a mixed duet with Britain’s Jamie Murray earlier this month at Wimbledon.
Williams has won 41 WTA singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal.
His sister Serena Williams is on the official Toronto Open entry list released last week.
For Serena, the tournament will be her first hard-court competition in North America in two years and follows her run at Wimbledon, where she was eliminated in the first round in June.
When asked after the loss if he would play again, the 40-year-old Williams said he didn’t know.
The three-time Toronto champion played in the tournament in 2019, when she withdrew due to back spasms in the final against Canadian Bianca Andreescu.
Andreescu beat Serena Williams a month later in the final of the US Open, for which Toronto serves as preparation.
Andreescu was also invited to participate in the Toronto Open among the top 20 competitors.
Three more invitations will be sent to Canadians closer to the start of the tournament, scheduled for August 6-14.
“Amateur introvert. Pop culture trailblazer. Incurable bacon aficionado.”
