Tennis great Venus Williams has exited the Hobart International in the first round, with the 45-year-old wildcard losing in straight sets to Tatjana Maria.
Williams went down 6-4, 6-3 to German sixth seed Maria in a match lasting 1 hour and 27 minutes on Tuesday.
The match between Williams and Maria lasted 1 hour and 27 minutes. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)
The seven-time major singles champion, who is ranked 576 in the world, broke 38-year-old Maria in the opening set.
But she dropped serve twice, handing the set to Maria, who sits at 42 on the WTA rankings.
Service breaks were exchanged in the second set, however Maria did enough to clinch victory over former world number one Williams.
Venus Williams takes a break during her match. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)
Williams will now turn her attention to the Australian Open.
She was awarded a wildcard into the main draw at Melbourne Park, where she has reached the singles final twice (2003 and 2017).
Tatjana Maria pictured after the match. (ABC News: Kate Nickels)
Preston gets career-best win in Hobart
On both occasions, Williams lost to younger sister Serena, who won the Australian Open seven times.
The senior Williams sibling has not played in Melbourne for five years and will break the age record held by Kimiko Date.
Date was 44 years old when she contested the 2015 Australian Open.
Venus Williams speaks to the media after her loss. (ABC News: Kate Nickels)
Williams played in Auckland last week, taking a set off world number 52 Magda Linette in an opening-round loss.
She has not played outside North America since 2023, having battled health and injury problems.
In other first-round results in Hobart, two-time major singles champion Barbora Krejčíková lost to Peyton Stearns in a tense three-set match.
The crowd turned out for day two of the eight-day tennis tournament. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)
Czechia’s Krejčíková, ranked 55 in the world and unseeded in Hobart, went down to her American opponent 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7/4).
Stearns’s countrywoman and tournament third seed, Iva Jović, advanced with a commanding 6-0, 6-1 defeat of Indonesia’s Janice Tjen 6-0, 6-1.
ABC/AAP