Cincinnati – Venus Williams, after her return to tennis last month after more than a year of absence, fell to Jessica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain with a score of 6-4, 6-4, in the first round of the Cincinnati Open.The next challenge for the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion is the US Open, where she received an invitation to play mixed doubles alongside Reilly Opelka, starting August 19. Williams has won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles with her sister Serena and two more in mixed doubles.
Bouzas Maneiro, ranked 51st, and 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 support of the public, Williams challenged the 22-year-old Spaniard, but struggled with her serve.Williams, a year after undergoing uterine surgery, became the oldest woman to win a WTA match in over two decades when she defeated Peyton Stearns last month at the DC Open. This was her first tournament in 16 months and her first victory since the 2023 Cincinnati Open.“After this match, I feel incredible. That means that in this next period [before the US Open] I won’t have to fix injuries. Now I can work on power and speed instead of just making sure I’m not injured going into the tournament.”
Venus Williams
This was Williams’ 11th appearance at the Cincinnati Open, where she reached the semifinals in 2012 and the quarterfinals in 2019. She has spent 11 weeks at number 1.“I think there were times when I was working on the problems, but I think there was never a time when I wasn’t trying. I definitely see a lot of positives today and I think, coming back, not everything will be perfect, but there were a lot of great things today.”
Venus Williams
