MADRID, April 22 — Venus Williams suffered a first-round exit at the Madrid Open yesterday after losing in straight sets to Spain’s Kaitlin Quevedo.
MADRID, April 22 — Venus Williams suffered a first-round exit at the Madrid Open yesterday after losing in straight sets to Spain’s Kaitlin Quevedo.
The 20-year-old wild card defeated the seven-time Grand Slam champion 6-2, 6-4.
Ranked 479th in the world, Williams has now lost all seven matches she has played this season. The match also marked her first appearance on clay since Roland Garros five years ago.
In a first set affected by strong winds at the Estadio Manolo Santana, both players committed several unforced errors, but world number 140 Quevedo, competing in her first WTA 1000 event, showed greater consistency.
Williams started the second set strongly, racing to a 3-0 lead, but Quevedo mounted a comeback before rain briefly halted play as the centre court roof was closed.
The Spanish player then claimed five consecutive games to secure victory and advance to the second round.
Elsewhere, last year’s French Open breakout star Lois Boisson lost 6-1, 6-3 to American Peyton Stearns in just over an hour in her return from injury.
Boisson, who reached the Roland Garros semi-finals as world number 361, managed only four games in her first match since September.
Stearns will next face world number one Aryna Sabalenka, the defending Madrid champion and three-time winner of the tournament.
Earlier, former world number two Paula Badosa was beaten 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 6-0 by Julia Grabher, exiting her home event in the opening round.
Beatriz Haddad Maia also fell 6-1, 6-1 to Jessica Bouzas Maneiro. — AFP
BANGKOK, April 24 — Thailand’s Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a petition accusing 44 current and former opposition lawmakers of ethics violations over their 2021 move to amend a law protecting the monarchy from criticism, according to Thai media reports.
PUTRAJAYA, April 24 — The Court of Appeal today dismissed Kepala Batas MP Dr Siti Mastura’s appeal against a High Court ruling ordering her to pay RM825,000 in damages and costs for defaming three DAP leaders by linking them to former Communist Party of Malaya leader Chin Peng.
THE HAGUE, April 23 — Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte will stand trial at the International Criminal Court after judges on Thursday confirmed charges of crimes against humanity over his controversial “war on drugs.”