Venus Williams needs no validation for this U.S. Open appearance. She's Venus Williams.

Why is Venus Williams still out there swinging a racket?

Why can’t one of the most important players in the history of the game fade gracefully into the record books? Why is the 45-year-old back on the court battling players half her age instead of celebrating her recent engagement on the Amalfi Coast. Why does she keep hanging on?

The answer is simple: Because she wants to.

I don’t care if Williams, ranked 610 in the world, doesn’t win a point in her first-round match against 11th-seeded Karolina Muchova on Monday night at the U.S. Open. I don’t buy the ridiculous notion that Venus’ wild-card invitation hurts a younger player who is more deserving. (Seriously, is there anyone in tennis more deserving?)

If Williams wants to keep playing tennis into her 50s, she has more than earned the right.

“I think I’ll always play tennis,” Williams said. “It’s in my DNA. So it doesn’t matter if it’s now or 30 years from now . . . tennis will always be one of the most important parts of my life.”

For a good chunk of her career, Williams faced sexism and racism with grace. Should we be surprised that she is taking on ageism in the same way?

Williams is back playing after a 16-month hiatus that included surgery for uterine fibroids. Many had falsely assumed that Williams had retired quietly from the game, unlike her sister, Serena, who penned a splashy farewell in Vogue magazine before playing her last match here in 2022.

Instead, encouraged by her fiance, Italian fashion model/actor Andrei Preti, Williams returned to tennis in July at the Washington Open, where she drew celebrities such as Kevin Durant and defeated Peyton Stearns, then ranked No. 35 in the world. With the win, she became the oldest woman to win a tour-level singles match since Martina Navratilova was 47 at Wimbledon in 2004.

Two weeks ago, the USTA announced that they were giving Williams a wild-card invitation for the singles draw, making her the oldest entrant in the event since 47-year-old Renee Richards. Monday’s match will mark a record 25th time she has appeared in the event.

Williams burst onto the tennis scene here as a 17-year-old in 1997, becoming the first unseeded player of the Open era to reach the final before losing to Martina Hingis. She would go on to win seven major singles titles — five at Wimbledon and two at the U.S. Open — 14 doubles Grand Slam crowns with younger sister Serena, two majors in mixed doubles and four Olympic gold medals.

Williams led the campaign for equal prize money at Wimbledon and Roland Garros. The way she and her sister dominated the sport paved the path for a generation of Black women, including Coco Gauff, Naomi Osaka, Sloane Stephens and Taylor Townsend.

“It’s just really, I would say, inspiring,” said Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion. “My only thing is: I don’t really like how every headline mentions her age . . . We all know how old she is. It’s kind of more broad — how much of a legend she is in this sport.”

So why the fixation with her age? Well, in some respects, it’s a little uncomfortable to see one of the greatest players in the history of the sport participating so much past her prime. This is both a culture and a sport that celebrates youth, latching on to the competitor who is on the ascent as opposed to the one who is continuing to play despite diminished skills.

Williams is a full seven years older than Novak Djokovic, who at 38 is the oldest player in the men’s draw. Unlike Djokovic, she doesn’t have a chance to go deep into the tournament. The truth is that it would be considered a significant upset if she made it out of the first round.

Of course, that won’t matter to the sold-out crowd at Arthur Ashe on Monday night. In fact, you can bet that the suites will be packed with big-name celebrities and the stands with regular folks who were willing to fork over big dollars to say that they once saw a legend

By Barbara Barker

barbara.barker@newsday.commeanbarb

Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.