Venus Williams Out Of Chicago Women’s Open
Former world number one Venus Williams crashed out of the WTA Chicago Women’s Open on Monday, losing in straight sets to Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-Wei, 6-2, 6-3.
The seven-time Grand Slam winner Williams, who is the oldest player in the draw at 41, spent just 67 minutes on the court in a one-sided opening round match at the Washington Park tennis facility on Chicago’s South Side.
Williams is now just 3-9 on the season and has seen her ranking drop to 147 in the world. Of those nine losses this season, two have been against the 125th-ranked Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.
It was one of the biggest wins of the 81st-ranked Hsieh’s career as she improved to 11-12 on the season. She made it to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open earlier this year, losing to Naomi Osaka 6-2, 6-2.
Elsewhere at the WTA 250 tournament, Great Britain’s Heather Watson retired hurt while 6-2 1-0 down against Romania’s Ana Bogdan.
At the Cleveland Championships, GB’s Tara Moore was beaten 6-4 7-5 by Linda Fruhvirtova in the first round.
US Open qualifying starts on Tuesday, with seven British players hoping to join Johanna Konta, Watson, Dan Evans, Cameron Norrie and Andy Murray in the main draw.
Williams has been awarded a wildcard for the Grand Slam – at which she won the singles title in 2000 and 2001.
The 35-year-old Hsieh kept Williams on her back foot with a strong service game and precision cross court and down the line forehands.She won 71 percent of her first serve points and had just one double fault, while Williams double faulted five times.
