Venus Williams falls again at Cincinnati Open
- Last updated: August 15, 2026 | 10:52
Venus Williams' losing streak in singles play has reached 13 matches.
The seven-time major champion was defeated 6-2, 6-2 by Emiliana Arango on Friday in the first round of the Cincinnati Open.
The 46-year-old Williams received a wild-card entry to the WTA 1000 event. She has not won a singles match since July 2025.
Arango, a 25-year-old qualifier from Colombia ranked 95th, needed 1 hour, 5 minutes to defeat Williams on the grandstand court at Lindner Tennis Center.
Williams had her serve broken in the first game of the match and faced an uphill battle the rest of the way. Arango was 4 of 5 on converting break points and won 71% of her first-serve points.
Williams was unable to convert on her lone break opportunity and was only 41% on first-serve points.
"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 about getting ahead early.
Arango will face No. 7 seed and defending Cincinnati champion Iga Swiatek in the second round.
Williams' last singles victory came last year in Washington, when she defeated Peyton Stearns.
"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 in 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 remain in Cincinnati to play doubles with her sister, Serena, after they received a wild-card entry. They last played doubles together at the 2022 US Open.
The Williams sisters were slated to play doubles at Wimbledon before an injury to Serena.
They will play Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns in the first round.
The doubles portion of the tournament starts 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,” Venus Williams said.
Venus is also slated to play mixed doubles at the US Open later this month with Alexander Bublik.
Associated Presse