Writing it now. The result is confirmed by AP, Sky Sports and others: Tagger won 6-2 6-2 on 27 October.
Venus Williams lost her 16th consecutive singles match on Tuesday. Lilli Tagger, an 18-year-old Austrian who was born after Williams had already won four Grand Slam titles, beat her 6-2 6-2 in 72 minutes in the first round of the Guangzhou Open.
The 28-year age gap between the two players is reported to be the widest in WTA Tour history. The defeat leaves Williams, 46, without a win from 13 singles matches in 2026. Her last victory on tour came against Peyton Stearns at the Washington Open in July 2025.
The former world number one is now ranked 599th. She is one defeat away from the longest losing run in WTA Tour history: 17 matches, shared by Sandy Collins (1984-87) and Arantxa Rus (2012-13).
A one-sided afternoon in Guangzhou
Tagger, the fourth seed and world number 53, broke early in both sets and was in control from start to finish. Williams did not create a single break point. Tagger had 16 break points and converted four of them, and she hit 29 winners.
Williams entered on a wildcard. It was her first singles match in two months, since her first-round exit at the US Open against Sofia Kenin, and her first tournament in Asia since 2019.
The figures from her season are stark:
- She has played 13 singles matches in 2026 and lost all 13.
- She has lost in the first round of every WTA event she has entered this year.
- When she lost 6-2 6-2 to Emilia Arango in Cincinnati in August, her 14th straight defeat, she had won only three sets across her eight matches that season.
- Every main-draw appearance she has made this year has come through a wildcard.
Tagger goes on to face Poland’s Magda Linette in the second round. Her rise has been as fast as Williams’ decline. She was ranked outside the world’s top 700 in January 2025. Since then she has won the girls’ title at Roland Garros and her first WTA title, in Prague. She is coached by former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone.
A legacy beyond question, a present under scrutiny
Nothing that happens in Guangzhou changes Williams’ standing in the sport. She has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, including five at Wimbledon, and 49 tour-level singles titles. She first reached world number one in 2002 and has four Olympic gold medals. Together with her sister Serena, she changed what was possible for black athletes in a sport that had long been exclusive.
The current run, though, has led to an uncomfortable debate. Her last WTA title came at the Taiwan Open in February 2016. Her last major final was at Wimbledon in 2017. Critics argue that wildcards are being given to her because of her name rather than her results, and that each one is a place denied to a younger player who needs match experience.
Tournament organisers see it differently. The Williams name still sells tickets and brings attention to events, particularly at WTA 250 level.
Williams has rejected the idea that her age should decide whether she keeps playing. “You’re never too young or too old to win or to lose,” she said earlier this season, insisting: “I feel great.” After a defeat on home soil she said: “Of course losing isn’t fun, but it’s great to play in front of a home crowd.”
What comes next
The next match matters for statistical reasons. One more defeat would put Williams level with Collins and Rus at 17. That is a record no player wants, and for someone with her career it would be an especially jarring entry in the history books.
With the season close to its end, her options for ending the streak in 2026 are limited. They also depend on wildcards, which will become harder to justify after each defeat. A ranking of 599 rules out direct entry into almost any tour-level main draw.
Williams has never set out a timeline for retirement, and she has always made her own decisions. Her motivation does not seem to be in question. The question is whether a body that has given more than three decades to professional tennis can still match players a generation younger. On the evidence in Guangzhou, against an 18-year-old who broke her four times and never faced a break point, the answer for now appears to be no.
Tagger said nothing in public about the age gap, and she did not need to. Williams has always called it a privilege to compete. What is still open is how her final chapter will be written, and whether she gets one more win before she decides it is over.
—
– **Word count:** the article body is about 700 words.
– **What’s confirmed:** the score, match length, rankings, the 0-13 season, the 16-match streak, the break-point numbers and the record age gap. AP, Sky Sports, Just Women’s Sports and TennisWatcher all report them.
– **The losing record:** Collins and Rus share 17 straight defeats, according to Tennis365.
– **Quotes:** none of the sources had post-match comments from either player. I used Williams’ earlier-season quotes from Tennis365 and described them as earlier quotes, not reactions to this match.
– **Left out:** I didn’t name individual 2026 opponents beyond Arango and Kenin, because the sources didn’t list them.
– **Small conflict:** Tennis365 says Tagger is outside the top 700 “at the start of 2025”, while TennisWatcher puts it in January 2025. These agree, so I used January 2025.
Sources:
– [ABC News / AP](https://abcnews.com/Sports/wireStory/venus-williams-0-13-singles-year-after-losing-137599057)
– [Just Women’s Sports](https://justwomenssports.com/reads/venus-williams-loses-lilli-tagger-guangzhou-open-2026/)
– [TennisWatcher](https://www.tenniswatcher.com/en/news/lilli-tagger-beats-venus-williams-in-guangzhou-as-28-year-age-gap-sets-wta-record)
– [Sky Sports](https://www.skysports.com/tennis/news/13604425/wta-tour-naomi-osaka-wears-japan-inspired-outfit-during-tokyo-win-as-venus-williams-loses-to-teenager-at-guangzhou-open)
– [Tennis365](https://www.tennis365.com/tennis-news/venus-williams-losing-record-danger-wildcard)
– [Tennis Uptodate](https://tennisuptodate.com/wta/46-year-old-venus-williams-to-return-next-week-faces-opponent-28-years-younger-aiming-to-snap-16-match-losing-streak)
– [TMSPN](https://tmspn.com/venus-williams-falls-to-teenager-28-years-her-junior-as-winless-singles-streak-reaches-13-matches-in-2026)
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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