Guangzhou, October 31, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
American tennis veteran Venus Williams suffered defeat in her first WTA Tour semi-final in eight years after she and Indonesian partner Janice Tjen lost their Guangzhou Open doubles semi-final on Saturday.
The 46-year-old Williams and Tjen saved four match points but eventually went down 4-6, 7-6 (8), 6-10 to Polina Kudermetova and Maria Timofeeva in a contest lasting one hour and 45 minutes.
Kudermetova and Timofeeva will now face Chinese Taipei’s Cho I-hsuan and Yi Tsen Cho in the final. The latter pair booked their place in the title clash by defeating Zhibek Kulambayeva and Isabelle Haverlag in the other semi-final.
The match marked Williams’ first WTA Tour doubles semi-final since the 2016 Olympics and Wimbledon. It was also her first appearance in the last four since Indian Wells in 2018.
Williams and Tjen were broken three times during the match and converted two of their 11 break-point opportunities. They stayed in contention by saving three consecutive match points at 6-3 in the second-set tie-break, forcing the contest into a deciding match tie-break.
The American-Indonesian pair briefly threatened a comeback after taking the first three points of the match tie-break. They later led 6-5, but Kudermetova and Timofeeva responded by winning five consecutive points to seal the victory.
Williams had earlier suffered a straight-sets defeat in the women’s singles first round against teenage player Lilli Tagger, losing 6-2, 6-2. It was her first singles appearance since the 2026 US Open, where she lost to Sofia Kenin in the opening round.
The seven-time Grand Slam singles champion has now suffered 16 consecutive singles defeats on the tour, a run dating back to July 2025. She is scheduled to compete in Hong Kong next week after receiving a wildcard.
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