Venus Williams DC Open comeback ends in second round to Magdalena Freçh

WASHINGTON, DC—Venus Williams’ first tournament in 16 months ended on Thursday, the former world No. 1 exiting, 6-2, 6-2 to Magdalena Freçh in the second round of the Mubadala Citi DC Open.

"I had so much fun," a smiling Williams said in her post-match press conference. "Definitely not the result I wanted, but still a learning experience. The part about sport in life is that you never stop learning.

"I got to play a lot of matches here and definitely was a plus. The fans in D.C. are just epic. I couldn't have been happier with my first week back."

Williams shocked the tennis world when she announced a comeback at 45 years old and caused an even bigger commotion when she upset Peyton Stearns to become the oldest woman in 21 years to win a WTA level match on Tuesday. But the fifth-seeded Freçh proved too consistent for the seven-time Grand Slam champion on Stadium Court, advancing in 73 minutes.

Williams’ comeback is set to continue next month at the Cincinnati Open, where she has received a wild card.

"It's going to be amazing," she said of her return to Cincinnati, where she last competed in 2023. "There's so many learnings from here. I know exactly what I need to work on, where I can improve. The good news is I'm always in control of the point. The important part is to put the ball in.

"So this is one thing I didn't do today. Was I in control? Absolutely. Will I be in control of most of my matches? Most likely, yes. That's the place I want to be, so I'm putting myself in that position. That's what counts."

The elder Williams sister has enjoyed a busy week of tennis in the nation’s capital, playing singles and doubles with fellow American Hailey Baptiste. The duo lost their doubles quarterfinal to No. 2 seeds Taylor Townsend and Zhang Shuai in a match tiebreak on Wednesday, leaving Williams to compete against Freçh for a first WTA quarterfinal since the 2019 Cincinnati Open.

Freçh is ranked just below her career-high of No. 22, and is in the midst of a career-best 12 months on the Hologic WTA tour, having won her first title at the 500-level Guadalajara Open Akron last fall.

Taking on Freçh for the first time, Williams played solid tennis to start as the two traded serve holds through the first four games, but the 27-year-old from Poland nabbed the first break of the match in the fifth and took that momentum to a set and double-break lead.

Williams showed flashes of her Slam-winning brilliance throughout the match and unleashed a flurry of winners to break Freçh in the sixth game of the second set, but Freçh returned the favor to put herself a game away from victory.

Nerves appeared to set in as Freçh served for the match, throwing in a double fault to fall behind 15-30, and Williams saved a match point with a well-struck forehand, but Freçh quickly earned a second and ultimately eased over the finish line in over an hour.

Completing the quarterfinal line-up, Freçh will next face No. 3 seed Elena Rybakina for a spot in the semifinals.