Forget Kobe Bryant's like 2016 retirement party. Venus Williams may be staging her own 2016 comeback soiree.
Serena's older sister captured the WTA Elite Trophy over the weekend to put her back in the WTA's top-10 for the first time since April of 2011, according to WTA Tennis.
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The 35-year-old Venus defeated Karolina Pliskova in straight sets to win the year-ending event and vault her up to No. 7 in the world rankings. She became the oldest woman ranked in the top-10 in nearly 21 years -- 38-year-old Martina Navratilova was in the top-10 on New Year's Day 1995.
During her seven-month layoff to combat her Sjogren's Syndrome -- an auto-immune disease that saps her energy -- between Sept. 2011 and March 2012, Williams fell to No. 137 in the rankings before making the long trek back.
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She is much closer to being at the top of her game than Bryant, who is increasingly sounding as if 2015-16 will be his last season. He has missed time due to injury in each of the past three seasons, prior to the start of the current NBA season.
Kobe is averaging 16.5 points per game, but is shooting just 32 percent from the floor and 20.8 percent from 3-point range.
He has begun hinting that the current NBA season will be his last after a 20-year career, especially with the Lakers off to a 1-5 start.
Williams finished a year in the top-10 rankings for the first time in five years. She first broke into the top-10 on March 30, 1998, when Venus was three months away from her 18th birthday.
So while it seems Bryant, a five-time NBA champion, will retire with a whimper next spring, Williams will be fighting to draw closer to No. 1 and sister Serena.
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