tennis

Watch Venus Williams' mic drop moment after Australian Open win

Published Jan. 16, 2017 9:53 a.m. ET

Chris Chase

Venus Williams is 36 years old in a sport where 26 is often pushing retirement age. She's playing in her 73rd Grand Slam overall and her 17th in Melbourne, where she is the oldest player in the Australian Open field. In Monday's first round, Williams played Ukraine's Kateryna Kozlova, a 22-year-old who was born a few months before Venus made her professional debut. But what's that saying about age and beauty? Whatever it is, Venus proves you can have both, as she rallied to win 7-6 (5), 7-5 and then gave this charming (of course) on-court interview to Sam Smith of Australia's Channel Seven:

https://twitter.com/AustralianOpen/status/820844132436353025

Smith: I don't know if you know this Venus, but she was born the year you turned pro. So how do you keep fighting off these youngsters?

Venus: Girl, I don't know.

Smith: Seriously, how do you do it?

Venus: Well, I know how to play tennis, Sam.

Smith: So you say experience is everything?

Venus: I like to think I'm good at this. She hasn't had the years that I've had yet, the gray hairs that I'm dying, the wrinkles that I'm hiding. You're trying to make me feel old!

Class, self-deprecation and awesomeness on and off the court. If you're not rooting for Venus Williams, you're doing it wrong.

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