CINCINNATI — Venus Williams, who returned to tennis last month after being away from the sport for more than a year, lost to Jessica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday in the first round of the Cincinnati Open.
Next up for the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion is the U.S. Open, where she received a wild-card entry with Reilly Opelka to play mixed doubles beginning Aug. 19. Williams has won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles with her sister Serena and another two in mixed doubles.
The 51st-ranked Bouzas Maneiro, who wasn’t born when Williams won her first four Grand Slam titles, advanced to her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal match last week in Montreal.
With the crowd on her side, Williams pushed the 22-year-old Spaniard but struggled with her service game.
Williams, who is one year removed from uterine surgery, became the oldest woman to win a WTA match in more than two decades when she defeated Peyton Stearns last month at the DC Open. It was her first tournament in 16 months and her first win since the 2023 Cincinnati Open.
Williams was making her 11th appearance at the Cincinnati Open, where she reached the semifinals in 2012 and quarterfinals in 2019. She has spent 11 weeks ranked No. 1.
