Venus Williams falls at second hurdle in Auckland

After winning her first match since Wimbledon 2021 in Auckland this week, Venus Williams was stopped in the second round as China’s Zhu Lin came back from 5-3 down in the third set to defeat the American 3-6 6-2 7-5.

Seven-time Grand Slam champion Williams started the rain-interrupted match with a break down, but won five of the last six games to take the one-set lead. World No.84 Zhu, who saved a match point against Madison Brengle in the previous round, swiftly took the match to the third set. As Williams was approaching her first tour-level quarterfinal since 2019, serving for victory at 5-4 in the decider, Zhu quickly broke her serve and eventually won the last four games of the match.

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