After giving up a set and a break lead in Cincinnati, Venus Williams was unable to win back-to-back WTA Tour matches for the first time since 2019.
Williams, a 43-year-old American, was defeated by Zheng Qinwen, the world’s number 24, 1-6, 6-2, and 6-1 on the day she was given a wildcard for the record-extending 24th US Open.
Now that she has extended her record of Open-era singles appearances, Williams will continue her preparations for the US Open.
Williams, who is rated 533rd, had a 6-1 2-0 lead before dropping his next 11 games. In the Western and Southern Open’s round of 16, China’s Zheng, 20, served out the victory and will face top seed Iga Swiatek.
Swiatek is in good shape before US Open; Pegula advanced to 16th round
Polish no.1 Iga Swiatek, 21, won a brutal 6-1 6-0 victory against American wildcard Danielle Collins as she continued to get ready to defend her championship in New York.
According to Swiatek, “I felt like I was extremely steady and I didn’t make a lot of unforced errors. That kind of game boosts my confidence.”
Jessica Pegula, the third-ranked American in the world, beat Italian Martina Trevisan 6-7 (2-7) 6-2 6-3 to go to the Cincinnati round of 16. Pegula already won the Canadian Open championship the previous week.
