Venus Williams & Naomi Osaka eliminated from ATP/WTA Cincinnati Masters

• Venus Williams and Naomi Osaka both lose in the first round of the Cincinnati Masters.
• Zhang Shuai of China beats four-time Grand Slam winner Venus Williams 6-4, 7-5.
• Former world number one Naomi Osaka loses in straight sets to Karolina Pliskova.

Venus Williams and Naomi Osaka both lost in straight sets in the first round of the ATP/WTA Cincinnati Masters on Tuesday.

Williams, who is 42 years old and won her last match at an event in the Midwest before the US Open in 2019, lost to 2016 winner Karolina Pliskova 7-5, 6-1.

In the meantime, Osaka’s summer slump got worse when Zhang Shuai of China beat the four-time Grand Slam winner 6-4, 7-5.

Pliskova, who is one of the best servers in the game, hit eight aces and broke four times in a win over Williams that took almost 1 3/4 hours.

Williams was in the semi-finals ten years ago, but she hasn’t won in her last five matches. The last time she won was in the first round of Wimbledon.

Pliskova said she had to step up her game to win the second set easily.

The Czech said, “Venus is a great champion. She is a fighter with a big game and a big serve.”

“She played well at times in the first set, but I’m in good shape, so I was able to play better in the second.”

Former world number one Osaka lost in the first round for the second time in two weeks. She is now ranked 39th.

The 24-year-old lost in the first round of Toronto and has only won one of four matches on cement, at the WTA Silicon Valley tournament in July.

Zhang, who is ranked 44 in the world, won her first main draw match here since 2014 and moved on to the second round in 75 minutes.

The Chinese player was on the winning doubles team at Cincinnati in 2021 and won the US Open doubles title with Australian Sam Stosur in the same year.

Zhang, who is 33 years old, was serving for the match when Osaka tied it at 5-5. After Osaka broke the crowd favourite, Zhang held to love to win the match.

“It was a really good win for me,” Zhang said. “At the start I was not feeling my serve but at the baseline I played very well.

“I tried to focus on myself today.

“It’s always tough to pay a really good friend. Naomi is amazing but she didn’t have the best day today.”

With the win, Zhang’s series with Osaka is now tied at 3-3.

Also Read

Venus Williams to get back in the saddle in Toronto

Previous world no. 1 Venus Williams will get back. In the saddle...