Venus Williams loses in first round at Australian Open warm-up match in Hobart
HOBART, Australia — Venus Williams lost to Tatjana Maria 6-4, 6-3 in the first round of the Hobart International on Tuesday, less than a week before she competes in the Australian Open.
The 45-year-old Williams received a wild card entry into this year’s first Grand Slam tournament. She also had a wild card in Hobart, but lost to sixth seed Maria in a match that lasted nearly 1.5 hours.
Williams also lost her first-round match last week in Auckland, New Zealand.
The seven-time Grand Slam singles champion and world No. 576 broke the 38-year-old Maria’s serve in the first set. But Williams lost serve twice and handed the set to Maria, ranked 42nd in the WTA rankings.
A single serve game in the second set was enough for Maria to seal the victory.
Williams reached the Australian Open singles final twice in 2003 and 2017, but lost both times to her sister Serena.
The Australian Open begins on Sunday. Williams, who has not played at Melbourne Park for five years, will break the age record held by Japan’s Kimiko Date, who was 44 when she competed at the 2015 Australian Open.
In another first-round match in Hobart, two-time Grand Slam champion Barbara Krejcikova lost to Payton Stearns. Krejcikova, ranked 55th in Hobart and unseeded, lost to Stearns 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (4).
