Venus Williams prepares to serve to Madison Keys during their match in the Charlotte Invitational on Thursday, December 4, 2025 at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC.
jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
Venus Williams came back to Charlotte to play tennis for the first time in 19 years Thursday, and the crowd of 10,592 was very glad to see her.
Although Williams was the lowest-ranked player of the four in the Charlotte Invitational — a one-night tennis exhibition held in the Spectrum Center — she was also the one who drew the loudest cheers. She is 45 now, a champion who changed the game in her day (along with her younger and even more accomplished sister Serena). Venus has retired and un-retired, and she’s no longer the same player who once won seven Grand Slam singles titles.
But who among us is the same athlete at age 45 compared to 35 or 25? Just getting to see the queenly Williams in the Queen City seemed enough for many in the crowd, which robustly cheered each of her winners.
“I just love the game,” Williams said in her post-match interview Thursday night. “I’m having so much fun. Hitting the ball is a joy.”
Venus Williams smiles at the crowd during her match against Madison Keys in the Charlotte Invitational on Thursday at Spectrum Center in Charlotte. Williams has made a tennis comeback at age 45. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
Currently ranked No. 147 in the world, Williams hung in there nicely against world No. 7 Madison Keys for one set. Williams came back from 3-0 down in the first set to lead 6-5, but Keys then held serve and rolled in the tiebreaker, winning it 7-1.
In the second set, Williams looked tired and Keys turned it on, hitting winners to both corners and making the age difference quite apparent. A fading Williams didn’t win a single game in that set. The final score: Keys won, 7-6 (7-1), 6-0.
Venus Williams serves to Madison Keys during the Charlotte Invitational on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025 at Spectrum Center. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
“Getting to play Venus is just so special,” said Keys, who also played in Charlotte last year in December (against Sloane Stephens). Then Keys ended up winning the Australian Open Grand Slam in January.
Keys jokingly said at a news conference earlier Thursday that she owed that Australian win — the biggest of her career — to Charlotte.
Madison Keys hits a forehand Thursday while playing Venus Williams in Charlotte. Keys won the exhibition match, 7-6 (7-1), 6-0. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
It is true that Keys, 30, literally grew up watching Williams play: Williams turned pro at age 14, in 1994. Keys was born a year later, in 1995. When Williams had last played in Charlotte in 2006 — an exhibition against her sister Serena — Keys was 11.
This was the second year of the Charlotte Invitational. While the crowd was respectable, it was more than 5,000 people short of Year 1 in 2024, when 16,194 fans showed up. That number was largely driven by Carlos Alcaraz, the charismatic superstar who is currently the No. 1 player in the world.
Alcaraz’s opponent in 2024 was Frances Tiafoe, the American who is also a crowd favorite. Now ranked No. 30 in the world, Tiafoe enjoyed Charlotte enough the first time around that he returned a year later to this same exhibition, as Keys did. This time Tiafoe played Taylor Fritz, the top U.S. player and No. 6 in the world.
Frances Tiafoe chases a ball deep to the baseline during his match against Taylor Fritz in the Charlotte Invitational Thursday. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
Tiafoe is the most natural showman of the four players in the exhibition and has always enjoyed a crowd. He twice brought people out of the crowd to hit a few balls Thursday: One was former Charlotte Hornet Gordon Hayward (who was a strong high school tennis player) and the other was a 9-year-old from Greensboro with a great forehand. Fritz also hit a few balls with Carolina Panthers backup quarterback Andy Dalton, who subbed in to play one point for Tiafoe and “won” it (wink-wink).
Carolina Panthers quarterback Andy Dalton reaches out to catch a tennis racket to hit some balls during the Taylor Fritz vs. Frances Tiafoe match in the Charlotte Invitational on Thursday in Charlotte. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
“I especially like coming to cities that don’t normally have tennis,” Tiafoe said Thursday morning, referencing Charlotte’s lack of a high-profile professional tournament. “Last year was an unbelievable turnout. Happy to be here again.”
Tiafoe nipped Alcaraz in a tiebreaker in 2024. This time Tiafoe and Fritz split sets, then played a 10-point tiebreaker in lieu of a third set.
The men played around on the court in the first two sets a good bit more than the women, occasionally keeping the ball in play longer than needed to allow the other player to attempt a spectacular shot.
Taylor Fritz, currently the top American tennis player, concentrates on the ball as he slices a backhand Thursday. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
As Fritz had said in a news conference Thursday morning about exhibitions: “It’s definitely a different feeling than when you’re at a tournament, and it’s more stress and more pressure. You can have fun and focus on playing good tennis but also focus on really just entertaining the crowd and making it fun for everyone.”
The two world-ranked players didn’t fool around in the tiebreaker, though. Tiafoe remained undefeated at the Charlotte Invitational, winning the match when Fritz missed a difficult overhead, 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-8).
“Both of us raised our level a lot in the tiebreaker,” Fritz said. “He was just a little bit better.”
“Hopefully you’ll get to see me again and again,” Tiafoe said. “I’d love to keep coming.”
Frances Tiafoe celebrates his victory over Taylor Fritz in the Charlotte Invitational on Thursday. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
Scott Fowler
The Charlotte Observer
Columnist Scott Fowler has written for The Charlotte Observer since 1994. He has earned 24 national APSE sportswriting awards and hosted The Observer’s podcast “Carruth,” which Sports Illustrated once named “Podcast of the Year.” Fowler hosts the online series and podcast “Sports Legends of the Carolinas,” which features 1-on-1 interviews with NC and SC sports icons. He also writes occasionally about non-sports subjects, such as the 5-part series “9/11/74,” which chronicled the plane crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 in Charlotte in 1974.
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