Venus still a force at 45, despite Auckland loss

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Venus Williams has lost her first singles match of 2026 to fifth-seeded Magda Linette at the WTA Tour tournament in Auckland, New Zealand.

The 45-year-old Williams put up a superb show before losing 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to the No 52-ranked Linette, who was only two years old when Williams played her first professional singles match.

Tuesday's match was Williams'1,101st in singles on the WTA Tour, but the competitiveness she showed against a player 12 years her junior will give her confidence as she heads to Australia for the Hobart International and the Australian Open.

The seven-time major champion received wild-card entries into the Auckland tournament, Hobart, which swings off on Jan 12, and the first Grand Slam tournament of the year at Melbourne Park.

The Auckland match was Williams' first since she lost 6-3, 2-6,6-1 to Karolina Muchova in the first round of the US Open last August. She played only three tournaments in 2025, beating Peyton Stearns in July to become the second-oldest woman — behind Martina Navratilova — to win a match on the WTA Tour.

Williams appeared fit, moved freely, served seven aces and hit hard on both sides.

"Look at the level she brought. She moved really great," Linette said in a courtside TV interview."She was really hitting well, especially when she was running to the open space.

"It was really impressive, and I really had to stay calm. She pushes you to a spot you don't want to be and that's where I was for a while, so I'm really glad I was able to refresh and come back with a little bit of a better game."

Williams, ranked No 582 this week, has been a regular visitor to Auckland in the latter part of her career. She beat Caroline Wozniacki in the 2015 final for the 41st of her 46 WTA Tour titles. This year, she told reporters, she felt under no pressure.

"The biggest pressure is that which we put on ourselves, right?" Williams said. "And then, when you look back, you're like,'it wasn't such a big deal'.

"So, hopefully, I can look back with that 20-20 vision while I'm in the present, like, just let it go, let it flow, enjoy it and be in the moment. That's not easy to do, and that's why people love sports, right?"

Williams started strongly and had her first ace in her opening service game. She was broken by Linette in the fifth game and trailed 5-2 before breaking back. Linette took the first set in 51 minutes.

In the second set, Williams broke in the sixth and 10th games. She hit hard to the corners, then was able to pull out sharp winners down the line. She also went to the net effectively.

Linette broke decisively in the fifth game of the third set.

Williams combined with Elina Svitolina to play doubles on Monday, losing 7-6 (7), 6-1 to Iva Jovic and Alexandra Eala.

At another warm-up event for the Aussie Open, women's top ace Aryna Sabalenka overwhelmed No 50 Cristina Bucsa 6-0, 6-1 on Tuesday to start her title defense at the Brisbane International.

The Belarusian star said after the win that her "Battle of the Sexes" exhibition match against Australian men's star Nick Kyrgios in Dubai was "a bit of fun" and served her up a good tuneup for the Australian Open.

The exhibition attracted some criticism but also, at least as far as Sabalenka was concerned, a lot of positive attention.

"It was fun. It was a great challenge. I think we brought so many eyes on tennis," she said. "What I'm sad about is that some people got it wrong, the whole idea of that event. And I don't care.

"I feel like there's always going to be people who don't like you, don't respect you, don't support you, but there's so many people who support me, who really cheer me on and who find inspiration in me. I'm focusing on that part."

Sabalenka's focus now is getting back onto a winning roll in Australia. She won back-to-back Australian Opens in 2023 and 2024 and was on a 20-match winning streak at Melbourne Park until a loss in last year's final to Madison Keys.

Agencies via Xinhua