Venus Williams’ return to the Cincinnati Open ended in the first round Friday as Colombian qualifier Emiliana Arango defeated the seven-time Grand Slam champion 6-2, 6-2 at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio. Arango needed just 66 minutes to eliminate the 46-year-old Williams, who entered the WTA 1000 tournament with a wild card. The loss leaves Williams still searching for her first singles victory of the 2026 season.
The match offered another reminder of how difficult Williams’ latest stretch on tour has become. She produced flashes of the aggressive tennis that made her one of the sport’s dominant players, finishing with 20 winners. But those shots were outweighed by 40 unforced errors.
Arango took a much different approach. The 25-year-old Colombian relied on her movement and consistency, committing only nine unforced errors while repeatedly forcing Williams to hit another ball. Arango finished with eight winners but rarely gave Williams the free points she needed to take control of the match.
Williams struggled particularly on serve. Arango won 60 of the 99 total points played, while Williams managed 39. The Colombian also consistently put pressure on Williams’ service games and never allowed the American to establish much momentum.
For Arango, ranked No. 95 in the world, the victory was one of the more memorable moments of her career. She was born only months after Williams won her first Grand Slam singles championship in 2000 and said afterward that facing a player she had watched growing up felt surreal. The reward for Arango is another major test. She advances to face defending Cincinnati champion Iga Swiatek in the second round.
Williams’ Cincinnati singles appearance was her latest attempt to continue a professional career that began in 1994. She owns 49 WTA singles titles, seven Grand Slam singles championships and an Olympic singles gold medal, and spent 11 weeks as the world No. 1. Before Friday’s match, she held a 12-10 career record in Cincinnati, highlighted by a semifinal appearance in 2012 and a quarterfinal run in 2019.
Despite the singles defeat, Williams’ Cincinnati Open is not necessarily over. She and younger sister Serena Williams received a wild card into the women’s doubles draw, setting up their first tournament together since the 2022 US Open. The sisters have won 14 Grand Slam doubles championships and three Olympic doubles gold medals but have never previously competed together in doubles at Cincinnati.
That reunion will now become the next focus for Venus after another difficult afternoon in singles.
