Venus Williams has been far from reaching her top level in her first-round match at the 2023 US Open against Greet Minnen.
When it comes to legends competing on the WTA Tour, Venus Williams is certainly one of the first names that pops up. This year, the US Open is celebrating 50 years of equal prize money, and throughout the years, the 43-year-old American also helped to make sure the progress would be made.
Now, she could make progress by advancing from the first round to the second, but in her milestone 100th match at the US Open, Williams, who was initially set to play Paula Badosa, was far from her top level. Only four women played at least 100 matches at Flushing Meadows, and they are all American, with Serena Williams having 123 matches, Chris Evert 113, and Martina Navratilova 106.
Now, Venus Williams joined this club, but there probably won't be a party to celebrate this achievement. Despite winning 79 of her previous 99 matches, and lifting two titles at US Open, the seven-time Grand Slam champion couldn't bring her best tennis to Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday.
Minnen, who won three qualifying matches, never met Williams on the WTA Tour, as the world no. 97 played the seven-time Grand Slam champion for the first time in her career. But despite the home crowd welcoming the American, who came off a recent withdrawal from the Cleveland Open, and showing her the support early on, the Belgian wasn't scared and she started the match with a break of serve.
In the following three games, Williams always had a chance to win it, but never managed to do so. First, she had three break points in the second game, then she had two game points in the third game, and two more break points in the fourth game. But as all those remained unused, the 43-year-old faced a 0-4 deficit early on in the opening set.
Despite winning her first game then, Williams couldn't convert another two game points on her serve in the seventh game, as Minnen closed out the first set of the match, winning it 6-1 in 45 minutes.
The Belgian wasn't showing any signs of slowing down, but that didn't stop Venus from having another break point in the opening game of the second set. But after that remained unused too, it turned into a one-woman story.
Williams just wasn't able to win almost any rallies, and after Minnen added two more breaks of serve, she won the match 6-1, 6-1 to eliminate the home two-time US Open champion already in the first round of the competition.
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