Venus Williams records 13th consecutive loss at Canadian Open amid sisters' Cincinnati wild‑card entry
Venus Williams was defeated 6‑4, 6‑1 by Uzbekistan’s Kamilla Rakhimova in the first round of the WTA 1000 Canadian Open in Toronto on 2 August 2026. The match, delayed by heavy rain, lasted 1 hour 27 minutes. The loss extended Venus’s streak of consecutive singles defeats to 13, the longest run of defeats in her career. Rakhimova, ranked No. 82, converted four of five break‑point opportunities and broke Williams twice in the first set and three times in the second.
Meanwhile, the Williams sisters have been granted wild‑card entries for the Cincinnati Open, the final major hard‑court tournament before the US Open. Both Serena and Venus received a doubles wild card, and Venus also obtained a singles wild card for the event, which runs from 8 to 23 August 2026. Serena’s planned doubles comeback at Wimbledon was cancelled after she suffered a knee injury during her singles match, prompting the pair to postpone their joint return to Cincinnati. The sisters last played together in a Grand Slam doubles match at the 2022 US Open.
Venus has not won a singles match since July 2025, when she beat Peyton Stearns at the Washington DC Open. Her recent season has been marked by early exits at multiple tournaments, raising questions about the future of her singles career.
Entities: Canadian Open · Canadian Open (Toronto) · Cincinnati Open · Kamilla Rakhimova · Mariano Navone · Matteo Berrettini · Montreal · Serena Williams · Sobeys Stadium · Toronto · Venus Williams · WTA 1000
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [● 11 SOURCES] Venus Williams lost to Kamilla Rakhimova 6‑4, 6‑1 in the first round of the Canadian Open in Toronto on 2 August 2026. (loss)
- [● 3 SOURCES] Serena Williams withdrew from Wimbledon doubles after sustaining a knee injury during her first‑round singles match. (28ceee30-3ecf-4169-a834-e38071ea4a0d, b5badc48-5565-407f-8139-5c5d50b90c1a, ef)
- [● 4 SOURCES] Serena Williams and Venus Williams were granted a doubles wild‑card for the Cincinnati Open (WTA‑1000) scheduled for 8‑23 August 2026. (2ca5ca1a-7738-466a-b021-087dba73e504, 9d03ec31-d72b-46e8-bb97-ebdd00e7bcdf, 18ead1e1-a357-46dd-8b88-128e606bf04c, b8f817)
- [● 4 SOURCES] Venus Williams received a wild‑card for the singles draw at the Canadian Open. (2ca5ca1a-7738-466a-b021-087dba73e504, 9d03ec31-d72b-46e8-bb97-ebdd00e7bcdf, 18ead1e1-a357-46dd-8b88-128e606bf04c, b8f817)
- [● 3 SOURCES] Serena Williams last played singles at Wimbledon, losing in the first round after a four‑year hiatus. (28ceee30-3ecf-4169-a834-e38071ea4a0d, b5badc48-5565-407f-8139-5c5d50b90c1a, ef)
- [● 3 SOURCES] The Canadian Open first‑round match between Venus Williams and Kamilla Rakhimova was delayed by heavy rain. (98cc42b2-8989-420d-9f6f-3efefe21f51e, 7518482e-2b1e-4b78-bb5c-cfe8a1b98581, 6edabaea-152c-4e0a-b530-e1c4ac11a8e9, bf0417)
- [● 5 SOURCES] Kamilla Rakhimova was ranked No. 82 in the WTA rankings at the time of the Canadian Open match. (98cc42b2-8989-420d-9f6f-3efefe21f51e, a4a6ca2a-18bd-4074-9e2f-63f03b5b30cb, 641c466a-72a7-41b9-8f3f-cda10590a2f1, 6edaba)
- [● 4 SOURCES] The defeat was Venus Williams’s 13th consecutive singles loss. (98cc42b2-8989-420d-9f6f-3efefe21f51e, a4a6ca2a-18bd-4074-9e2f-63f03b5b30cb, 641c466a-72a7-41b9-8f3f-cda10590a2f1, 6edaba)
- [● 2 SOURCES] Venus Williams has not won a singles match since July 2025, when she defeated Peyton Stearns at the Washington DC Open. (last singles win)
- [● 4 SOURCES] The Cincinnati Open runs from 8 August to 23 August 2026. (tournament dates)
- [● 5 SOURCES] Serena Williams withdrew from Wimbledon doubles after a knee injury. (injury withdrawal)
- [● 8 SOURCES] Serena and Venus Williams were awarded a doubles wild‑card for the Cincinnati Open in August 2026. (wild‑card entry)