Belgian Greet Minnen handed Venus Williams one of the heaviest defeats of her career on Tuesday night inside Arthur Ashe Stadium when she dispatched the American legend 6-1, 6-1 in the first round of the 2023 US Open.
In her Arthur Ashe Stadium debut, Minnen needed 74 minutes to dispatch the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion and former world No. 1 to reach Round 2 at a major for the fourth time in her career.
Here are some fast facts to know about the Belgian qualifier.
She wasn't Williams' original first-round opponent
When the women's singles main draw was originally made on Thursday, Williams was drawn against former world No. 2 Paula Badosa of Spain. But Badosa withdrew from the tournament Saturday before the US Open Qualifying Tournament concluded, ending her season as a result of a back injury, and instead, Williams was to be slotted against a qualifier or a lucky loser.
That turned out to be Minnen—who won two of her three qualifying matches in three sets—to book a ticket to her 11th career Grand Slam main draw. In qualifying, Minnen beat Turkey's Zeynep Sonmez (6-1, 2-6, 6-3), Austria's Sinja Kraus (7-5, 6-3), and American Katrina Scott (6-3, 4-6, 6-2).
Tuesday's match wasn't her first US Open win, and she's beaten a major-winner at a Grand Slam before
The 26-year-old from Turnhout, Belgium—a city in the country's Flemish-speaking region—in fact, had her best-ever Grand Slam run in Flushing Meadows in 2021, where she reached the third round as a lucky loser. That year, she beat Nadia Podoroska and Liudmila Samsonova before falling to 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu. Later that year, she reached her career-high in the WTA rankings: No. 69.
But Minnen's best-ever win on a big stage came last summer at Wimbledon, where she shocked former world No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam singles champion Garbiñe Muguruza (who was then ranked No. 10) in the opening round, 6-4, 6-0. That victory is, to date, her best win by ranking.
She's an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community
Minnen is out-and-proud on and off the court, as she's been a vocal advocate for the LGBTQ+ community in tennis.
In 2019, Minnen and her then-partner, fellow Belgian pro Alison van Uyvanck, were among the panelists for "Love All: An Open Conversation"—the inaugural panel that celebrated Pride at the US Open—and in 2020, she told the WTA website in an interview that having past generations of out pros like Billie Jean King helped her find her own voice.
“They are big role models for us,” Minnen said then. “They really helped the next generation, not just by coming out, but everything they did for tennis. They’re really big people for the sport. For us, it helps to have [them] as an example."
She was born just a month prior to Williams' first run to the US Open final
Minnen's birthday is Aug. 14, 1997, and that year, Williams reached the US Open women's singles final as a 17-year-old.
The Belgian called Williams a "legend" in her on-court interview in the aftermath of her win.
"I have huge respect for her," Minnen told ESPN's Rennae Stubbs. "For her to be here at 43 years old is just amazing."
