For the 1,099th time in her career, Venus Williams took her place on the baseline before a tennis match and prepared to do battle. As has been the case almost every time she has competed for the last 31 years, Williams fought hard until the end, but there was no fairytale outcome in the midwest. After two competitive sets on Centre Court, the in-form Spaniard Jessica Bouzas Maneiro knocked out Williams in the first round of the Cincinnati Open with a 6-4, 6-4 win.
Things had looked particularly bleak for the 45-year-old Williams early on as she struggled to keep the ball in court, quickly falling down two breaks at 1-4 in the opening set. At 22, Bouzas Maneiro has been on the rise in recent months and her ranking of 51 belies a run of form that includes a fourth round at Wimbledon followed by a quarter-final in Montreal last week. The Spaniard showed her quality by remaining solid from the baseline, maintaining consistent depth, offering up few errors and looking for opportunities to redirect Williams’ pace.
