Should the 45-year-old, ranked 582nd, get an Australian Open wild card? Just because she’s Venus Williams

The regularly written-off Venus has long been seen as the default Williams sister (with her paltry seven Grand Slam singles titles to Serena’s 23), her relatively reserved demeanor perhaps giving the impression of less hunger. But the resilience evident since turning pro at age 14, more than 1,000 top-level singles matches and 11 weeks at world number one suggest otherwise.

Yes, she rose and fell in the WTA rankings with each injury setback, while her diagnosis of the autoimmune disease Sjögren’s syndrome in 2011 surely spelled the end – until she came back to win Olympic gold in London in 2012.

Then there was that back injury in 2013 and sure the writing was on the wall this time. Until, of course, she reached the 2017 Australian Open final at age 36—her first major final since winning Wimbledon in 2008 (she lost to Serena and, as it turned out, her future niece; Serena later revealed she was two months pregnant at the time). Venus has become an expert at working with her age. When her body couldn’t cover the court as quickly as her opponents, she played smarter, hit harder, made them run.

In the 2017 Wimbledon semifinals, she did it to Johanna Konta at 37, returning the second serve twice as fast as it arrived and tiring her out. She failed to overcome Garbine Muguruza in the final, but a semi-final appearance at the US Open that same year returned her to the top 10.

In January 2018, when she appeared in Bondi to announce the 2018 Sydney International draw, her career had lasted so improbably that she had to remind herself that she had even played in the 1998 final against Sanchez Vicario (“Did you say I was in the final? … Oh, I forgot”) before winning Olympic gold in Sydney 2000.

Venus may have forgotten, but I never.

Even the casual tennis fan will have at least one lasting memory of their favorite Venus moment. It might be that epic 2005 Wimbledon final triumph over Davenport, when she came back from 5-1 down in the first set to put the world No.1 at 6-4, and in the second, when Davenport was 6-5 up and serving for the match, she hit four winners to overcome her and eventually win 4–6, 7–6, 9–7.

“I feel like Serena and I have been part of a big change in women’s tennis,” Venus said on Sunday as she arrived in Hobart from Auckland, where she lost to world number 52 Magda Linette in the opening round last week.

“Over time the equipment has changed as well, I’ve had to adjust my game accordingly [things like] new strings. I think I’m a student of the game, I like to watch and learn from other players. [But] when you go on the court, I focus on what I want to achieve. Victory and defeat know no age.”

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Or the memory may be off the court, where she was an outspoken political voice lobbying for women to receive equal prize money at the French Open and Wimbledon, in the legacy of grace and seriousness that follows Billie Jean King. Her 2006 essay The Times titled “Wimbledon sent me a message: I’m just a second-class champion”, was approved by the baritian prliament and created enough international pressure that both majors backed down and, from 2007, awarded the same prizes to all competitors.

Would you buy a ticket to the Australian Open to watch any 45-year-old wild card ranked 582 in the world?

Maybe not.

But see and Venus Williams potentially for the last time? As if you missed it.