It is difficult to overestimate the influence of the Williams sisters on tennis. Now in their forties, both are playing at the top level, with Serena, 44, joining Venus, 46, at the Queens Tournament in London and the Berlin Open last week.
The pair have also been offered a Wilchard doubles entry to Wimbledon, a decade after winning the last of their six doubles titles at this particular Grand Slam. She has also won two US Open doubles titles, two at the French Open and four at the Australian Open. They also have 30 Grand Slam singles titles between them; Serena has 23 of them. But his inspiration for this comeback four years later was a little closer to home.
“My daughter Olympia told me I should play with Venus. She’s always right, so I was like ‘Damn,'” Serena said. “So I said ‘You know, let’s see if we can do this’.”
Venus Williams returned to top-level tennis this January, becoming the oldest woman to play singles at the Australian Open.
At 45, Williams was given a wildcard for the tournament and was the youngest player in the women’s draw, 27 years older than fellow American Eva Jovic. After winning the first set, she lost 2–1 to Serbian player Olga Danilovic in the first round. She has won one of her six singles matches since her return but is keen to replicate her impressive doubles partnership.
“It’s unbelievable, the quality of her strokes obviously,” Venus, who unlike Serena never formally retired from the sport, told British broadcaster TNT about her sister’s comeback.
“I think she’s a bit of a natural, she has a great record, she knows what she’s doing and she’s very determined, so I’m not worried about how she’ll play, even though I haven’t seen her play, which is crazy.”
forty but not over
While it is not so unusual for elite athletes age 40 and older to compete in less physical sports, more elite athletes in more physically demanding sports now appear to be able to sustain longer careers than ever before.
LeBron James, 41, is still playing top-level basketball. Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric and Manuel Neuer are among the eight players over 40 at the ongoing Football World Cup. Former Indian cricket captain MS Dhoni, at the age of 44, was in the Chennai Super Kings team in this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL), although he was not seen.
“Population aging is not only increasing the average age of citizens, but also the average age of elite sports participants,” Dr. Rafal Chomik of the UNSW Center for Population Aging Research (CEPAR) in Sydney, Australia, told DW.
“There are many possible explanations, including sports science, equipment innovations, and improvements in training regimens that are sport-specific, but also broader societal trends that link medical innovations and improved health behaviors that lead us all, including athletes, toward longer, healthier lives.”
Sipper did a study The age of Olympic athletes increased at the Tokyo Games in 2021. It found that between 1992 and 2021, the average age of Olympians increased by two years, from 25 to 27, while the median age went from 23 to 25. This trend continued at the Paris Games in 2024, with the average age exceeding 27 and the average age not exceeding 26.6.
strength wanes first
But not all games are created equal in this regard. The oldest competitor in Paris was Australian equestrian Mary Hanna, 70. The average age of a competitor in Paris in that sport was 39.5 – rhythmic gymnastics was the lowest at 20.44.
Another study, Organized over a period of 47 years by the Karolinska Institute in Sweden And released last month, found that “fitness and strength begin to decline as early as age 35” and that increased exercise does not change the age of peak performance in a given sport.
“It seems that we lose power at a younger age than endurance and strength – which were measured by jumping ability in our study,” Maria Westerstahl, lead author of the study, told DW.
He added, “One explanation may be that the explosive muscle cell type (Type II) appears to be the most sensitive to lack of exercise or aging. However, we do not know why this is, so the exact reason requires further study.”
“However, there is a lot of room for change if you remain active or become active. Aerobic capacity tracks least, while muscular endurance tracks most, meaning aerobic capacity requires the most maintenance to preserve it.”
it gets harder to win with age
This largely helps explain why the likes of Williams, James and Ronaldo lag so far behind in the top areas of the sport where power matters, while players in their 40s, 50s or even older compete at elite levels in sports such as horse riding, bowls or darts.
“Darts is not a game where you need to be really strong. You need to be basically healthy,” darts player Paul Lim said after becoming the oldest player to win a match at this year’s World Championships at the age of 71.
“Longevity is something that will last longer in darts than in many other sports.”
Although Lim won one match, the title went to talented 18-year-old Luke Littler. Realistically, winning a match or two rather than a seventh title may be Williams’ achievement in London.
Chomik said, “If you look at the list of the top 100 tennis players over the last 30 years, for both men and women, the maximum age does not seem to be much higher than 40.”
“Maybe it makes the difference between participating and winning.”
This article was originally published on January 12, 2026. This was updated on June 17, 2026, to reflect the fact that the Williams sisters are playing doubles in London and Berlin this summer.
Edited by: Chuck Penfold