Venus Williams shows she's still competitive at 45 during 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.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — 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 2 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 and also in Hobart from Jan. 12 and at the first Grand Slam tournament of the year at Melbourne Park.

The Auckland match was Williams' first since she lost 6-3, 2-6, 5-1 to Karolina Muchova in the first round of the U.S. 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.