Venus Williams is still playing on the WTA Tour at 45, even though she is not a regular presence anymore.

She has played five events since July, showing up in Washington, Cincinnati, New York, Auckland and Melbourne.

Her appearances have become less frequent in recent years. Since turning pro in 1994, her time on court has steadily decreased as she has grown older.

And before her first-round match at the Australian Open against Elina Svitolina, Rennae Stubbs spoke about what she believes keeps Venus coming back to the game.

Rennae Stubbs discusses Venus Williams’ return to Melbourne

Speaking to Stan Sport, Stubbs said: “I mean, in some ways, yeah. I didn’t expect her to come back [to the Australian Open], especially at this age, but also, I know how much she loves playing tennis, and she loves competing.

“And you know, she said it many times, what else am I going to do? Why not? Keeps her in shape, [she] travels the world still and enjoys it.”

“Venus is very low-key though. She’s very different in a lot of ways from Serena.”

In the Australian Open, Williams was defeated by Serbian star Olga Danilovic in the first round.

It has been a while since Venus Williams last won a WTA title

Venus Williams has enjoyed many victories throughout her career, but her most recent title on the WTA Tour came quite some time ago.

Her last tournament win was at the 2016 Taiwan Open in Kaohsiung, where she did not drop a single set en route to the title.

While she has not added another trophy since then, Williams did reach several finals in the years that followed, including both the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2017.

Despite those strong showings, she has not been able to add another championship to her resume, which still sits at 49 singles titles.