Venus Williams's uphill 2026 WTA season climb Tuesday night. Anastasia Potapova beat the seven-time Grand Slam champion 6-3, 6-3 at the 2026 DC Open in just over an hour.
And for Potapova, the win carried extra meaning.
Anastasia Potapova Snaps 2026 Skid with DC Open Score
The 25-year-old had never won a match in Washington before this. It also ended a rough patch as she had dropped four of her last five since beating Coco Gauff in the third round of the French Open. Now, however, she's back on track.
"Growing up, I was always looking at her and how she was winning all these tournaments," Potapova said of Venus Williams. "I'm super happy that I got a chance to play her."
The match scores told a clear story.
Venus Williams Extends WTA Losing Streak
Potapova was clean on the ball, finishing with a 20-to-8 winner-to-error ratio without dropping serve.
Williams, however, landed only nine winners and made 19 unforced errors. Her second serve was the biggest issue, though. She converted just 24% of those points.
The loss extended Williams's losing streak to 12 matches. She has not won since last year's DC Open and is 0-9 in 2026. Next, Potapova faces No. 4 seed Diana Shnaider in the hard-court tournament's second round.
