Venus Williams hits 13-game tennis losing streak with Cincinnati Open exit

What the report says

Venus Williams’s singles losing streak reached 13 matches after she was beaten 6-2, 6-2 by Emiliana Arango in the first round of the Cincinnati Open, according to Al Jazeera. The match took place late on Friday at the Lindner Tennis Center, where the 46-year-old Williams entered on a wild-card entry for the WTA 1000 event. Al Jazeera reported that this was Williams’s 11th appearance in Cincinnati and that her last singles win came in July 2025.

Arango, a 25-year-old Colombian qualifier ranked 95th, needed just over an hour to advance. She seized control early by breaking Williams in the opening game and kept up the pressure, converting four of five break chances. Williams managed only one break opportunity and struggled to win points on her first serve. After the match, Williams said she felt she was controlling points but needed more consistency to finish them.

The loss means Williams remains without a singles victory for more than a year, a notable development for one of tennis’s most recognisable players and a seven-time Grand Slam champion. Even so, she is staying in Cincinnati to play doubles with her sister Serena, after the pair received a wild-card entry. Their next scheduled opponents were Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns, and Venus Williams is also listed to play mixed doubles at the US Open later this month.