Venus Williams falls again at Cincinnati Open, singles skid hits 13 with 6-2, 6-2 loss to qualifier

MASON, Ohio (AP) — Venus Williams' losing streak in singles play has reached 13 matches.

The seven-time major champion was defeated 6-2, 6-2 by Emiliana Arango on Friday in the first round of the Cincinnati Open.

The 46-year-old Williams received a wild-card entry to the WTA 1000 event. She has not won a singles match since July 2025.

Arango, a 25-year-old qualifier from Colombia ranked 95th, needed 1 hour, 5 minutes to defeat Williams on the grandstand court at Lindner Tennis Center.

Williams had her serve broken in the first game of the match and faced an uphill battle the rest of the way. Arango was 4 of 5 on converting break points and won 71% of her first-serve points.

Williams was unable to convert on her lone break opportunity and was only 41% on first-serve points.

“That kind of eased my nerves a little bit of having maybe a little bit of breathing room. And then I think I just did a good job of staying on it, trying to make her play as much as possible,” Arango said about getting ahead early.

Arango will face No. 7 seed and defending Cincinnati champion Iga Swiatek in the second round.

Williams' last singles victory came last year in Washington, when she defeated Peyton Stearns.

“I think that at all times I was really controlling the point, but unfortunately didn’t finish it the way I wanted to,” said Williams, who is making her 11th appearance in the tournament. “The encouraging part is that I’m controlling the shots, but I have to just get a little more consistent on that last part.”

Williams will remain in Cincinnati to play doubles with her sister, Serena, after they received a wild-card entry. They last played doubles together at the 2022 U.S. Open.

The Williams sisters were slated to play doubles at Wimbledon before an injury to Serena. They will play Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns in the first round.

The doubles portion of the tournament starts Sunday.

“I’m excited and hope that we can both go into it fresh, on our toes and ready. I’ll be preparing for that,” Venus Williams said.

Venus is also slated to play mixed doubles at the U.S. Open later this month with Alexander Bublik.

See AP’s full tennis coverage here

Venus Williams reacts during her straight sets defeat by Kamilla Rakhimova during the National Bank Open tennis tournament in Toronto, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

IRVINE, Calif. (AP) — Ten years to the week after ending his career at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics with 23 career gold medals, Michael Phelps turned up at the Pan Pacific Championships with two of his four young sons.

And one is interested in swimming.

Beckett, who's 8, and brother Maverick, who's 6, sat with their dad and mom Nicole watching two days of the international meet featuring the U.S., Australia, Canada and Japan. Oldest brother Boomer, age 10, was keeping youngest brother Nico, age 2, entertained at home.

Beckett took a keen interest in the racing. The U.S. team is being overseen by Phelps' longtime coach, Bob Bowman, who is an unofficial grandfather to the boys.

“Grandpa Bob is giving him some pointers here and there,” Phelps said. “I would say he’s got more of a sprinter-type stroke, so not me, which kind of makes me happy.”

The family is researching coaches in Phoenix, where they live, for Beckett.

“If he wants to be a swimmer, I will support it,” Phelps said. “I will never push him into it. I want him to become his own person. I just hope he has fun.”

Phelps was careful to explain some of the finer points to Beckett.

“I was like, ‘Dude, if you want to train hard and literally grind, this is the sport,’” he said.

Phelps began swimming when he was 7 in his hometown of Baltimore, where he was initially afraid to put his face in the water. He joined a local club partly to follow his older sisters who swam and also to channel his high energy levels that occasionally bedeviled his single mother, Debbie. He made his Olympic debut at 15 in the 2000 Sydney Games.

Now he sees some of himself in his second son's traits.

“He has a hard time turning the switch off, so when he gets angry, he gets angry,” Phelps said. “That was the same way I was, so stare at that black line and scream as loud as you possibly can.”

AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports

Gold medalist Luca Urlando, right, of the United States, receives the medal from Michael Phelps during a medal ceremony for the men's 200-meter butterfly at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Irvine, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Michael Phelps attends the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Irvine, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)