Venus Williams Faces Early Exit at Hobart International Ahead of Australian Open

Venus Williams' Struggles Continue

In a disappointing start to her campaign, Venus Williams was defeated by Tatjana Maria with a score of 6-4, 6-3 during the first round of the Hobart International on Tuesday. This match comes just days before her participation in the Australian Open.

At 45 years old, Williams was granted a wild-card entry for the year's first Grand Slam event. She also received a wild card for the Hobart tournament, where she faced sixth-seeded Maria in a contest that lasted nearly an hour and a half.

This loss follows her earlier defeat in the first round at the Auckland event in New Zealand last week.

The seven-time Grand Slam singles champion, currently ranked 576th in the world, managed to break Maria's serve in the first set. However, she faltered by dropping her serve twice, ultimately conceding the set to Maria, who holds the 42nd position in the WTA rankings.

A solitary service break in the second set was sufficient for Maria to secure her victory.

Williams has reached the Australian Open singles final on two occasions, in 2003 and 2017, but was defeated by her sister Serena both times.

The Australian Open is set to commence on Sunday. Notably, Williams has not competed at Melbourne Park for five years and will surpass the age record previously held by Kimiko Date, who was 44 during her participation in the 2015 Australian Open.

In another match at Hobart, two-time major champion Barbora Krejcíková was eliminated by Peyton Stearns, losing 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (4).