WASHINGTON — Venus Williams took the Mubadala Citi DC Open by storm.

Venus Williams just came back from a 16-month break from professional tennis. But she didn’t return because she missed playing — rather, she missed her health insurance. “I had to come back for the insurance,” Williams, 45, said this week after beating Peyton Stearns — 22 years her junior — at the Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington, D.C.

Venus Williams enjoyed a winning return to competitive tennis after 16 months away as she reached the quarterfinals of the women’s doubles at the DC Open alongside Hailey Baptiste.