Venus Williams fights back tears in emotional press conference after US Open loss to Karolina Muchova

Venus Williams was overcome with emotion after her remarkable return to the US Open ended in defeat on Monday night.

The 45-year-old was back on Arthur Ashe on Monday night after two years in which she has battled health problems are barely played any tennis.

But she took No 11 seed Karolina Muchova to three sets in a brilliant first-round tussle, eventually succumbing to a 6-3 2-6 6-1 loss.

After the match, Williams - who returned to the court last month following 16 months out - had to fight back tears as she reflected on her journey back to her home Grand Slam.

'What did I prove to myself? I think for me getting back on the court was about giving myself a chance to play more healthy,' Williams - a two-time US Open champion - began.

'When you play unhealthy, it's in your mind. It's not just how you feel. You get stuck in your mind too. So...' Williams then began to tear up before adding: 'It was nice to be freer.'

Williams revealed more than a decade ago that she had been diagnosed with Sjogren's syndrome, an energy-draining auto-immune disease that can cause pain in the joints.

The 45-year-old also last year underwent surgery for uterine fibroids. But on Monday night, she became the oldest singles player at the US Open since Renee Richards (47) in 1981.

'I'm still learning about myself. When I think about the match I played against her (Muchova) in 2020, I was so uncomfortable,' she explained.

'I wasn't well. I was in so much pain. Today it's night and day how much better I felt, so I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to play in feeling better, and at that rate, have a real chance.'

Williams was given a wildcard to this year's event, despite playing only five matches since the 2023 US Open.

'I'm so grateful,' the 45-year-old said. 'They could have said: "You've been gone too long, you haven't won a lot of matches in the last few years." 'I wasn't lucky with my health and with injuries. But there were a lot of people who believed in me.'

Williams added: 'The lights are very bright out there. I don't think I've ever had a crowd that much on my side... I knew going into this match that people in this stadium, people in the United States, people around the world were really rooting for me, and that felt great to have that kind of support.'

Despite her fine performance, the 45-year-old refused to commit to playing any more events in 2025.

'Are there any tournaments in the States? Can someone move a tournament here? I don't know that I'm willing to travel that far at this stage in my career to go play,' she said.

'I love playing. The level of my game has come up so much since (returning in) DC. I tried as hard as I could to throw off any rust, but at the end of the day, there's only so much that can really be accomplished in three or four matches.'

The next Grand Slam will the Australian Open in January. Williams has twice reached the final Down Under but on the prospect of returning to Australia the 45-year-old said with a laugh: 'That's kind of far.'

Williams continued: 'My goal is to do what I want to do. I wanted to be here this summer... my team and I, we worked as hard and as fast as we could.

'We literally took no days off. I haven't gone to dinner. I haven't seen friends. I haven't done anything except train for three months as hard as I could.'