Venus Williams lost to Swiss teenager and fellow wildcard Celine Naef 6-3, 6-7(3), 2-6 on Tuesday in the opening round of Libema Open, a WTA250 event in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, in her first match in five months.
Former world number one Venus, who turns 43 on Saturday, suffered a hamstring injury during a tournament in Auckland in January and had not played since then.
The 17-year-old Naef, ranked 202 in the world and making her Tour-level debut, came from a set and a break down to beat the seven-time Major winner in two hours 18 minutes as her sister and 23-time Major winner Serena, watched the match from the stands.
“Amazing. I cannot believe I had the chance to play against Venus,” the Swiss teenager said on court after her victory. “She’s an amazing player and really a role model for everyone.”
Williams broke in the eighth game on her way to taking the first set.
She then broke in the fifth game of the second. But Naef broke back and won the tie break.
Naef broke in three straight Williams service games in the third set. After the American saved a match point as she held in the seventh game, Naef served out to love.
In the next round, the Swiss will face eighth seed Catherine McNally who eased past fellow American Katie Volynets 6-2, 6-1.
(With inputs from AFP)
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