Venus Williams Faces Semifinal Defeat at Guangzhou Open After Eight Years
Venus Williams loses in the WTA doubles semifinals at the Guangzhou Open, marking her first such defeat in eight years.
Guangzhou, October 31 (Daily Kiran) : American tennis star Venus Williams experienced a setback at the Guangzhou Open, suffering her first WTA Tour semifinal loss in eight years. On Saturday, she and her partner, Indonesia’s Janice Tjen, were defeated in the women’s doubles semifinals. The match lasted one hour and 45 minutes, ending with a score of 6-4, 6-7 (8), 10-6.
This was Williams’ first WTA doubles semifinal appearance since the 2016 Olympics and Wimbledon, and her first semifinal since Indian Wells in 2018. The 46-year-old veteran and Tjen fought hard but were unable to defeat the duo of Polina Kudermetova and Maria Timofeeva. Despite saving four match points, they fell short of reaching the finals.
Earlier in the day, Kudermetova and Timofeeva secured their spot in the final by defeating Zhivak Kulumbayeva and Isabel Heverlag. The final will see Kudermetova and Timofeeva face off against Taiwan’s Chou Ai-Hsuan and Yi Tsun Chao.
During the match, the American-Indonesian pair had their serve broken three times, converting only two of the 11 break points they earned. Nevertheless, Williams and Tjen put up a strong fight against Kudermetova and Timofeeva, managing to save three consecutive match points in the tiebreak and pushing the match to a decisive round.
The duo sparked hope for a miraculous comeback by winning the first three points of the match tiebreak, even leading 6-5 at one point. However, Kudermetova and Timofeeva rallied back, winning five consecutive points to clinch the match.
Earlier in the tournament, Williams lost in the first round of the women’s singles to young player Lily Tagger with a score of 6-2, 6-2. This match marked her first singles appearance since the 2026 US Open, where she was defeated in the first round by Sofia Kenin. The seven-time Grand Slam singles champion has faced a tough season, losing 16 consecutive singles matches since July 2025. She is set to compete next week in Hong Kong, where she has received a wildcard entry.
