Venus Williams didn’t go down without a fight in her first Grand Slam match since the 2023 US Open, but it wasn’t enough as she fell in three sets to Karolina Muchova, 3-6, 6-2, 1-6 at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

So perhaps it wasn’t surprising that Williams started slowly. But with her fiance, Andrea Preti, leaping out of his seat after many points, Williams got back into the match, smacking vintage serves at up to 114 mph and finishing with just one fewer winner than Muchova.

The elder Williams was off the tennis tour for 16 months until making a comeback at a tournament in Washington last month, where she won one match each in singles and doubles. She hadn’t competed anywhere since the Miami Open in March 2024, and had surgery for uterine fibroids later last year.