Williams could not overcome 27-year-old Magdalena Frech, 6-2, 6-2, in the second round of the tournament on Thursday, July 24. Williams has not won back-to-back matches since 2019. Venus Williams and Hailey Baptiste won their first-round match in doubles play on Monday, but the duo fell short of reaching the third round.

The 45-year-old had been away from the tour for 16 months before showing up in Washington this week and winning once each in singles and doubles.

After 49 career titles and seven Grand Slams in singles play, Venus Williams hits the suburbs of Cincinnati as a wild-card entrant, sporting a WTA ranking of No. 571. It sounds unceremonious, but this Cincinnati Open bid really marks a long and arduous comeback effort for one of tennis’ all-time greats.

Venus Williams rallied from 4-1 down in the first set but could not maintain momentum, the seven-time Grand Slam champion falling 6-4, 6-4 to Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in the first

Williams, 45, made her tennis comeback at the Citi Open in Washington D.C., where she won her opening matches in singles and doubles.

After surgery for uterine fibroids last year, seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams is back at the Cincinnati Open as a wild card.

Venus Williams exited in the first round of the Cincinnati Open on Thursday, but the seven-time Grand Slam champion says she feels “amazing” heading into the final stretch of the WTA season. Williams lost 6-4,