Ohio, Aug 15 (IANS) Venus Williams’ singles losing streak has stretched to 13 matches after the seven-time Grand Slam champion suffered a 6-2, 6-2 defeat to Colombian qualifier Emiliana Arango in the first round of the Cincinnati Open on Friday.
The 46-year-old American was given a wildcard entry for the WTA 1000 event but was still unable to end her streak of not winning a singles match, which had continued since July 2025.
The 25-year-old qualifier Arango managed to beat Williams in one hour and five minutes on the grandstand court at the Lindner Tennis Center.
Williams’ afternoon began in a difficult manner since her serve was broken in the first game, and she had trouble getting back into the match against a player who constantly applied pressure.
Arango converted four out of her five break-point chances and secured 71 per cent of the points after her first serve, while Williams was unable to convert her one break opportunity and only won 41 per cent of her first-serve points.
According to Arango, securing a lead early on had the effect of calming her nerves and enabled her to keep control of the contest.
“That kind of eased my nerves a little bit of having maybe a little bit of breathing room. And then I think I just did a good job of staying on it, trying to make her play as much as possible,” Arango said.
The Colombian will have to play the defending champion and top seed Iga Swiatek in the second round.
For Williams, this loss was the result of a tough sequence of performances in singles, her most recent win having been at last year’s Washington tournament when she beat Peyton Stearns.
Even though the outcome was what it was, Williams did consider there to be some positive aspects in her performance, especially since she was able to dictate the points before finding it difficult to finish them.
Williams stated that although he had actually been in full control of the situation at all times he had unfortunately not completed it the way he had desired, and she is making her eleventh appearance at the tournament.
“I think that at all times I was really controlling the point, but unfortunately didn’t finish it the way I wanted to,” said Williams, who is making her 11th appearance at the tournament.
“The encouraging part is that I’m controlling the shots, but I have to just get a little more consistent on that last part.”
Williams will still stay in Cincinnati, as she will have another chance to compete with her sister Serena Williams after the two of them were given a wildcard for the doubles event.
The sisters had their last match together in doubles at the 2022 US Open and were meant to reunite at Wimbledon this year until Serena had to withdraw because of an injury.
Their campaign in Cincinnati will start with matches against Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns, the doubles event beginning on Sunday.
“I’m excited and hope that we can both go into it fresh, on our toes and ready. I’ll be preparing for that,” Williams said.
Williams also has another mixed-doubles assignment on the horizon, with the American scheduled to partner Alexander Bublik at the US Open later this month.
–IANS
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