Venus Williams beats top-20 player for first time in four years, advances in Cincinnati

Venus Williams returns a serve from Veronika Kudermetova on Center Court during round one of the Western & Southern Open at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason on August, 14, 2023. Photo: Cara Owsley-USA TODAY Sports via Reuters

Venus Williams beat a top-20 player for the first time in four years, rallying from big deficits in both sets to knock off 16th-ranked Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 7-5 in the first round of the Western & Southern Open.

The 43-year-old Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam champion, improved her match record this year to 3-5. She came in ranked 533rd.

Williams trailed 4-1 in each set but fought back each time, converting six of nine break points in the match. She also endured two rain delays.

“I just kept telling myself, I just want to win this point — not the match, just one point,’” the 43-year-old Williams said on Monday.

“When you break things down like that, big problems become small problems. That’s how I did that.” Williams had lost her last 10 matches against top-20 players since beating then-No. 5 Kiki Bertens in 2019 at Cincinnati.

Another American veteran, 2017 U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens, beat Elisabetta Cocciaretto 7-5, 6-2. The start of the match was delayed 2 hours, 44 minutes.

“There’s a lot of adversity,” Stephens said. “You manage it the best you can. It’s tough for everyone.” The 30-year-old Stephens will face defending champion and No. 6 seed Caroline Garcia in the second round.

On the men’s side, No. 12 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime beat Matteo Berrettini 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Auger-Aliassime, a Canadian who reached the U.S. Open semifinals two years ago, improved to 3-8 over his last 11 matches.