WTA roundup: Venus Williams falls in Aussie Open tuneup

Field Level Media|published: Tue 13th January, 10:47 2026

Sep 2, 2025; Flushing, NY, USA; Venus Williams of the United States and Leylah Fernandez of Canada in action against Taylor Townsend of the United States and Katerina Siniakova of Czech Republic in the quarterfinal of the women’s doubles at the US Open at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Frey-Imagn Images

Sixth-seeded Tatjana Maria recorded a 6-4, 6-3 win over Venus Williams in the first round at the Hobart International in Australia on Tuesday.

Maria, 38, took advantage of five double faults by Williams, 45, to win the match in 87 minutes. The match featured the highest combined age (83) of a single match in the history of the WTA.

Williams has lost successive first-round matches heading into the Australian Open.

Peyton Stearns posted a 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (4) victory over two-time major champion Barbora Krejcíkova of the Czech Republic. Third-seeded Iva Jovic coasted to a 6-0, 6-1 win over Janice Tjen of Indonesia, while Slovakia's Rebecca Sramkova and China's Xinya Wang also won their respective first-round matches.

Adelaide International

Third-seeded Mirra Andreeva cruised to a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic in a second-round match in Australia.

Eighth-seeded Victoria Mboko of Canada had a tougher time of it versus Anna Kalinskaya, posting a 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (6) win over the Russian.

Lilli Tagger, 17, outlasted Xinyu Gao of China, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 to advance to the second qualifying round.

Coached by 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone. Tagger recorded 40 winners to win the match in 2 hours and 54 minutes and set up a second-round clash versus Elena Pridankina. The Russian posted a 6-3, 6-2 win over 13th-seeded Diane Parry of France.

--Field Level Media

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