Venus Williams falls again, setting a heartbreaking record

Nearly five decades after the WTA rankings were first introduced, no former world number one had ever lost 10 consecutive singles matches on tour. Today, at the Madrid Open, Venus Williams became the first. The 45-year-old tennis icon fell to 20-year-old Spanish wildcard Kaitlin Quevedo 6-2, 6-4, extending a losing run that now stretches back almost a full calendar year and raising difficult questions about what comes next for one of the sport’s all-time greats.

A record nobody wanted to set

Williams’s last singles victory came at the 2025 Washington Open in July, where she defeated fellow American Peyton Stearns in a first-round upset. What followed has been one of the most sobering stretches of her legendary career, a sequence of 10 consecutive defeats across tournaments on three different continents, in three different playing conditions, against opponents ranging from top-30 players to those ranked well outside the world’s top 100.

The full picture of that run tells its own story. The 10 consecutive losses include:

1. A second-round defeat to Magdalena Frech at the 2025 Washington Open
2. A first-round loss to Jessica Bouzas Maneiro at the 2025 Cincinnati Open
3. A first-round exit against Karolina Muchova at the 2025 US Open
4. A first-round defeat to Magda Linette at the 2026 ASB Classic
5. A first-round loss to Tatjana Maria at the 2026 Hobart International
6. A first-round exit to Olga Danilovic at the 2026 Australian Open
7. A first-round defeat to Ajla Tomljanovic at the 2026 ATX Open
8. A first-round loss to Diane Parry at the 2026 Indian Wells
9. A first-round defeat to Francesca Jones at the 2026 Miami Open
10. Today’s first-round loss to Kaitlin Quevedo at the 2026 Madrid Open

The 272 days separating her last win from today’s defeat underline just how long this difficult stretch has lasted. Williams, currently ranked 479th in the world, is now the first former world number one to drop 10 consecutive matches since the WTA rankings were established in 1975.

Williams showed fight before the wheels came off

The Madrid loss was not without its moments of resilience. After dropping the opening set 6-2, Williams came out with renewed energy in the second set, building a commanding 3-0 lead that briefly suggested a turnaround was possible. But Quevedo, playing in her first WTA 1000 match and ranked 140th in the world, steadied herself and won five consecutive games to close out the contest in one hour and 43 minutes.

It was a familiar pattern. Earlier this year in Melbourne, Williams took a significant lead against Olga Danilovic at the Australian Open before ultimately losing in three sets, a result that felt like one of the more difficult near-misses of her recent run. That kind of competitive durability, the ability to stay close and even lead at times, speaks to Williams’s enduring competitive spirit. But converting those moments into victories has remained out of reach.

A young Spaniard seizes her moment

For Quevedo, the victory was nothing short of a career-defining afternoon. The 20-year-old, playing in her home city in front of a supportive Madrid crowd, received guidance before the match from Spanish tennis legend and Billie Jean King Cup captain Carla Suarez Navarro, who played 11 career matches against Williams and offered Quevedo advice on staying composed and adjusting to the pace of play. The counsel proved effective.

Quevedo will face American Hailey Baptiste in the second round on Thursday, April 23.

What the future holds for Venus Williams

Williams will not compete in the Italian Open later this month but remains in contention for a wildcard invitation to the French Open, where she could make her first clay-court appearance since a first-round loss at Roland Garros in 2021. She will, however, compete in the Madrid Open doubles draw alongside British player Katie Boulter, with the pair set to face Chinese duo Xu Yifan and Jiang Xinyu in the first round.

The doubles court has long been regarded as a more realistic competitive arena for Williams at this stage of her career, where athleticism, experience and partnership can compensate for the physical demands that singles increasingly places on a 45-year-old body.

Williams holds five Wimbledon titles, two US Open championships and the all-time record for Grand Slam appearances, with 95 tournaments and counting. That legacy remains entirely intact. But whether she adds to her singles win column anytime soon is a question that grows harder to answer with each passing week.