Venus Williams’s latest return to the court ended with another difficult result, as Emilia Arango defeated the seven-time major champion 6-2, 6-2 in 66 minutes at the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters.
The loss was Williams’s 14th straight defeat, a run that dates to July of last year. Williams, now 46 years old and ranked 615th, entered the event with a wild card and continues to search for a breakthrough after a season in which she has lost 11 matches while competing on organizer free entries.
What the result means at Cincinnati
Cincinnati is the last major warm-up before the 30 August US Open, so the result adds another layer to Williams’s ongoing comeback attempt. A dozen years ago, she reached a semi-final at the event, but this year’s trip followed a familiar pattern: competitive moments, then another defeat on the scoreboard.
Arango’s win was part of a busy day at the tournament. Sara Bejlek beat Karolina Pliskova 6-0, 6-2, Sebastian Baez knocked off Grigor Dimitrov 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, and Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Valentin Royer 7-6 (7/4), 7-5.
Tsitsipas finds a cleaner finish
Tsitsipas, ranked 49th after a months-long slump in form, said he tried to be more aggressive and work forward when possible. He said he is trying to come to the net as much as possible, and that when a ball is short he wants to attack it inside the baseline.
He also said his offensive strategy and composure were major reasons for the win, although the finish was not simple. Tsitsipas described the ending as nerve-wracking after he failed to convert two match points and said it could have been easy to get tight. Instead, he reminded himself to stay loose and keep playing aggressively, even if it meant missing occasionally.
The Cincinnati Open remains a useful barometer for players heading toward New York, and it has also become another checkpoint in Williams’s long search for a win. For readers tracking other early-round storylines, the same kind of tournament context applies elsewhere too, including Coco Gauff Faces Tamara Korpatsch in Wimbledon First Round.
