2017: Two major finals and return to the top 5 Williams began her 2017 season at Auckland, winning her opening match against local wildcard Jade Lewis before withdrawing due to a right arm pain.Liam Napier, Venus Williams pulls out ASB Classic , stuff.co.nz, January 4, 2017 Seeded 13th at the Australian Open, Williams defeated Kateryna Kozlova, qualifier Stefanie Vögele, Duan Yingying and qualifier Mona Barthel in the opening four rounds respectively in straight sets to advance to the quarterfinals. She defeated 24th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova for her 50th win at the Australian Open, the first time Williams won a quarterfinal match in Melbourne since defeating Daniela Hantuchová in 2003. Coming back from a set down in her semifinal match, Williams defeated rising American star CoCo Vandeweghe to advance to her first Grand Slam final since Wimbledon 2009 and her first Australian Open final since 2003. In doing so, she set the Open era record for the longest span (20 years) between grand slam singles final appearances, having first reached a Grand Slam singles final at the 1997 U.S. Open. In a closely fought final, she lost in two sets to her younger sister Serena, who made history by winning her 23rd Grand Slam singles title, surpassing the mark set by Steffi Graf. The following week, Williams competed in the St. Petersburg Ladies' Trophy, but lost in the second round to eventual champion Kristina Mladenovic. At the Indian Wells Open, Williams came back from a set down and saved three match points in the second round to defeat Jelena Janković, tying their head-to-head record at seven-all. This was her first win at Indian Wells since 2001. She defeated Lucie Šafářová and qualifier Peng Shuai in the third and fourth rounds respectively, avenging her previous losses to both players. She lost to the eventual champion, Elena Vesnina, in the quarterfinals. The following week, Williams scored her first top-ten win since 2015, against Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth round of the Miami Open. She defeated No. 1 Angelique Kerber in the quarterfinals, becoming the oldest player to beat a current No. 1. She lost for a third consecutive time to eventual champion Johanna Konta in straight sets in her first semifinal in Miami since 2010. This marked her fourth consecutive loss to eventual champions.
2017: Two major finals and return to the top 5 Williams began her 2017 season at Auckland, winning her opening match against local wildcard Jade Lewis before withdrawing due to a right arm pain.Liam Napier, Venus Williams pulls out ASB Classic , stuff.co.nz, January 4, 2017 Seeded 13th at the Australian Open, Williams defeated Kateryna Kozlova, qualifier Stefanie Vögele, Duan Yingying and qualifier Mona Barthel in the opening four rounds respectively in straight sets to advance to the quarterfinals. She defeated 24th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova for her 50th win at the Australian Open, the first time Williams won a quarterfinal match in Melbourne since defeating Daniela Hantuchová in 2003. Coming back from a set down in her semifinal match, Williams defeated rising American star CoCo Vandeweghe to advance to her first Grand Slam final since Wimbledon 2009 and her first Australian Open final since 2003. In doing so, she set the Open era record for the longest span (20 years) between grand slam singles final appearances, having first reached a Grand Slam singles final at the 1997 U.S. Open. In a closely fought final, she lost in two sets to her younger sister Serena, who made history by winning her 23rd Grand Slam singles title, surpassing the mark set by Steffi Graf. The following week, Williams competed in the St. Petersburg Ladies' Trophy, but lost in the second round to eventual champion Kristina Mladenovic. At the Indian Wells Open, Williams came back from a set down and saved three match points in the second round to defeat Jelena Janković, tying their head-to-h,ead record at seven-all. This was her first win at Indian Wells since 2001. She defeated Lucie Šafářová and qualifier Peng Shuai in the third and fourth rounds respectively, avenging her previous losses to both players. She lost to the eventual champion, Elena Vesnina in the quarterfinals. The following week, Williams scored her first top-ten win since 2015, against Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth round of the Miami Open. She defeated No. 1 Angelique Kerber in the quarterfinals, becoming the oldest player to beat a current No. 1. She lost for a third consecutive time to eventual champion Johanna Konta in straight sets in her first semifinal in Miami since 2010. This marked her fourth consecutive loss to eventual champions.