Venus still a force at 45, despite Auckland loss

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?"