{
  "id": 17799838,
  "title": "Williams suffers 17th consecutive singles defeat",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/02/williams-suffers-17th-consecutive-singles-defeat",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-02T12:36:27.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today-freemalays",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/sports/2026/11/02/venus-williams-suffers-17th-consecutive-singles-defeat"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Venus Williams, the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion, suffered a 17th consecutive singles defeat on Monday at the Hong Kong Open. The 46-year-old, ranked 597, was swept aside 6-2, 6-3 by 23-year-old American Mary Stoiana, who is currently ranked 113. Despite her age, Stoiana held her own against Williams, a former world number one, who stumbled while chasing a return in the first set. Stoiana, who overcame Williams in the Guangzhou Open last week, faced Williams in the first round at the Hong Kong Open, a crowd favoring the younger challenger. Williams' last singles victory on the WTA Tour was in July 2025, before that she lost in the first round at the US Open to Sofia Kenin in August-September. Williams reached the semi-finals of the Guangzhou doubles with Indonesia's Janice Tjen and is also participating in doubles action in Hong Kong. Stoiana will advance to the last 16, where she will face top seed Sorana Cirstea of Romania or Uzbek Maria Timofeeva.",
  "summary": "The 46-year-old former world number one Venus Williams went down 6-2, 6-3 to fellow American Mary Stoiana in the Hong Kong Open's opening round.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}