'Proud' Venus Williams, 45, exits Australian Open after epic battle

MELBOURNE, JAN 18: Venus Williams fell at the first hurdle but said she was proud of herself after making history as the oldest woman to ever play at the Australian Open on Sunday.
The American seven-time Grand Slam champion, 45, was handed a wildcard for Melbourne, five years after she last appeared at the major.
It attracted some flak amid concerns that it deprived a younger player of the opportunity, compounded by Williams losing first-round matches at both her warm-up tournaments.
The ageless veteran showed she still has what it takes in patches, pushing 24-year-old Serbian Olga Danilovic all the way before losing the last six games to crash out 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-4 in a gruelling 2hrs 17mins.
"It was such a great game, such a great moment. The energy from the crowd was amazing. That lifted me up so much," Williams said.
"She played a great game. Also some luck there, as well. That's just the sport. That's how it works sometimes.
"I'm really proud of my effort today because I'm playing better with each match, getting to the places that I want to get to," she added.
"Right now I'm just going to have to keep going forward and working on myself and working to control my errors."    �"AFP