Venus Williams suffered another first-round exit, 6-3, 6-3 to Anastasia Potapova at Washington Open, and has now extended the losing streak in singles matches to 12, still playing at big tournaments mainly because of wildcards, expected especially during the American tour this summer (she is now ranked 664 in the world).
The 46-year-old has struggled with injuries and dropped in the WTA rankings since her last big year, 2017, where she reached two major finals and returned to the top 5 for the final time. Last April, at the 2026 Madrid Open, she lost to Kaitlin Quevedo and became the first former world No. 1 to lose in 10 successive singles matches.
That streak now extends to 12 singles matches without a victory (9 of those in 2026), extending for over a year, since defeating Peyton Sterns at the Washington Open round of 32 match (she lost in round of 16 to Magdalena Frech). Will she add another defeat at the Canadian Open in Toronto next week?
