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Venus Williams said her mammoth victory over Camila Giorgi at the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham on Monday was "especially sweet".
Williams fought for more than three hours to post her best victory for nearly four years. Two days after her 43rd birthday Williams secured her second win at Tour level in two years after defeating Italy's Giorgi 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3 to book herself a place in the last 16.
Williams, nursing a knee problem, plays sparingly these days, returned at a grass-court event in the Netherlands last week for her first tournament since January, and this was only her second victory since Wimbledon 2021, and her first over a top-50 opponent since 2019.
Giorgi is a former Wimbledon quarter-finalist and a player very much at home on grass but Williams still possesses a fearsome strike, while her serve touched 120mph.
A heavy fall in the first set did not help her knee and she noticeably limped but she kept her nose in front, putting aside the disappointment of failing to serve out the match at 5-3 in the decider to take her second match point in the tie-break.
Williams held her arms aloft and repeatedly pumped her fist as the crowd, who had been drowned out at times by the support from the Ashes Test down the road, cheered.
"This one is especially sweet because I have been away from the tour for so long," she said. "The last couple of years I've had little to no matches and long stretches between matches and that's very challenging.
"I almost feel like when I'm on the court I'm reminded of things I used to do that worked really well, so there's a lot of memories and deja vu – I've never had that experience before. I felt like I played well the whole match and that felt great.
"Tennis is awesome. There's so many people that would love to do what I'm doing right now so I don't take it for granted. I faced some huge challenges in the match. I thought I didn't do much wrong and I found myself still not winning. I think that brought the emotion out."