Venus Williams has lost in the first round of another tournament after suffering her 17th consecutive singles defeat at the Hong Kong Open.
Williams is one of the greatest WTA players of all time, having won seven Grand Slam singles titles, and 16 major doubles titles in women’s and mixed doubles.
The American is still competing on the WTA Tour at 46 years old, with Williams reaching a semi-final at the Guangzhou Open in doubles alongside Janice Tjen just last week.
While Williams is still winning some matches in doubles, her search for another singles win has continued after losing to her compatriot Mary Stoiana 6-2, 6-3 in her first round match at the Hong Kong Open.
Give us one bold prediction for the final months of the 2026 tennis season!
Venus Williams has one of the longest losing streaks in WTA history after Hong Kong defeat
Williams’ loss to Stoiana in Hong Kong was her 17th consecutive singles defeat in a row, which dates back to the Washington Open in 2025, when she beat Peyton Stearns to become the second-oldest woman to win a WTA Tour level match.
The former world number one has struggled ever since then, with Williams losing all 17 matches she has played since then, which includes her going winless in 2026, despite playing her highest amount of matches in a season since 2019.
During this run, Williams has won just five of the 39 sets she has played. Some of the players to beat Williams during this time include Karolina Muchova, Sofia Kenin and Ajla Tomljanovic.
The closest Williams has come to winning a match during this run came at the Australian Open earlier this year, when she led Olga Danilovic 4-0 in the deciding set before losing the last six games of the match, and at the Bad Homburg Open against Irina-Camelia Begu, where she served for the match and was just two points away from winning the match in the third set tie-break.
| Venus Williams’ last 17 singles tournaments | Results |
| Washington Open 2025 | Second Round – Lost to Magdalena Frech, 6-2 6-2 |
| Cincinnati Open 2025 | First Round – Lost to Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, 6-4 6-4 |
| US Open 2025 | First Round – Lost to Karolina Muchoa, 6-3 2-6 6-1 |
| ASB Classic (Auckland) 2026 | First Round – Lost to Magda Linette, 6-4 4-6 6-2 |
| Hobart International 2026 | First Round – Lost to Tatjana Maria, 6-4 6-3 |
| Australian Open 2026 | First Round – Lost to Olga Danilovic, 6(5)-7 6-3 6-4 |
| ATX Open (Austin) 2026 | First Round – Lost to Ajla Tomljanovic, 6-4 6-1 |
| Indian Wells 2026 | First Round – Lost to Diane Parry, 6-3 6(4)-7 6-1 |
| Miami Open 2026 | First Round – Lost to Fran Jones, 7-5 7-5 |
| Madrid Open 2026 | First Round – Lost to Kaitlin Quevedo, 6-2 6-4 |
| Bad Homburg Open 2026 | First Round – Lost to Irina-Camelia Begu, 6-2 4-6 7-6(6) |
| Washington Open 2026 | First Round – Lost to Anastasia Potapova, 6-3 6-3 |
| Canadian Open 2026 | First Round – Lost to Kamilla Rakhimova, 6-4 6-1 |
| Cincinnati Open 2026 | First Round – Lost to Emiliana Arango, 6-2 6-2 |
| US Open 2026 | First Round – Lost to Sofia Kenin, 6-2 7-6(6) |
| Guangzhou Open 2026 | First Round – Lost to Lilli Tagger, 6-2 6-2 |
| Hong Kong Open 2026 | First Round – Lost to Mary Stoiana, 6-2 6-3 |
Williams losing her 17th consecutive match means that she has now become part of unwanted history, having now been on the joint-third longest losing streak in WTA history, alongside Arantxa Rus and Sandy Collins.
The two longest WTA losing streaks are held by Madeleine Pegel, who lost 29 consecutive matches between 1968 and 1972, and Shuai Zhang, who lost 24 matches in a row across 2023 and 2024.
| Player | Matches lost in a row | Losing streak period |
| Madeleine Pegel | 29 | 1968-1972 |
| Shuai Zhang | 24 | 2023-2024 |
| Arantxa Rus | 17 | 2012-2013 |
| Sandy Collins | 17 | 1984-1987 |
| Venus Williams | 17 | 2025-2026 |
Williams will be hoping to avoid reaching the numbers of Pegel and Zhang, but she will now have to wait until 2027 if she is to do so with the Hong Kong Open taking place in the final week of the 2026 season on the WTA Tour.
While this is the last singles match Williams will play in 2026, she still has to play in the doubles tournament alongside Xu Yifan.
