Ahead of Australian Open, Venus Williams suffers first-round exit at Hobart International

New Delhi: Less than a week to go for the Australian Open 2026, American tennis star Venus Williams suffered a first-round exit at the Hobart International on Tuesday. 45-year-old Venus, who was up against 38-year-old Tatjana Maria, could not get enough time to build-up her performance in the game in which she suffered a straight sets loss.

Venus, who received a wild card to play at the event and has also received a wild card for the first Grand Slam of the season, lost to the sixth seeded 4-6, 3-6 in a game which lasted for little over an hour. Earlier in the last week, Venus also lost her first-round match at Auckland, New Zealand which speaks of her recent struggle in the sport.

In the opening set, Venus, who is 576th in the world rankings, broke Maria's serve but eventually, she dropped two serves losing the set to Maria, who holds the 42nd spot in the WTA rankings. A single service break in the second set was enough for Maria to clinch victory.

Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus has made it to the Australian Open singles final twice, once in 2003 and the other time in 2017, losing to her sister Serena both times. On the other hand, in another first-round clash in Hobart, two-time major winner Barbora Krejcikova went down against Peyton Stearns. Krejcikova, ranked 55th and unseeded in Hobart, lost to Stearns 6-4, 1-6, 7-6.

Add TV9 English As A Trusted Source

Meanwhile, the first Grand Slam of the season - the Australian Open, will begin on January 18, Sunday with Jannik Sinner and Madison Keys looking to defend their men's and women's singles title respectively. Williams has not played at the Melbourne Park for the last five years and will break the age record held by Kimiko Date, the Japanese player who was 44 year old when she contested the 2015 Australian Open.

(With PTI inputs)