GUANGZHOU, China (Azat TV) – American tennis veteran Venus Williams reached her first WTA Tour semifinal in eight years before exiting the Guangzhou Open doubles tournament on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. Playing alongside Indonesian partner Janice Tjen, the 46-year-old veteran fought through a grueling one-hour and 45-minute battle before falling to Polina Kudermetova and Maria Timofeeva by a score of 6-4, 6-7 (8), 10-6, as reported by ESPN.
The defeat brought an end to a notable tournament run for Williams, who entered the WTA 250 hard-court event in southern China via wildcards in both singles and doubles. While her singles campaign ended quickly with a 6-2, 6-2 first-round loss on Tuesday to 18-year-old Austrian teenager Lilli Tagger—who was born in 2008, the same year Williams claimed her final Wimbledon singles title—the doubles draw offered a much deeper and competitive resurgence.
A Hard-Fought Semifinal Battle in Guangzhou
The semifinal clash showcased resilience from the veteran American-Indonesian pairing. According to reporting from Morung Express, Williams and Tjen managed to save four match points during the tense encounter. They successfully fended off three consecutive match points at 6-3 in the second-set tiebreak to force a decisive match tie-break, briefly threatening a miraculous turnaround after winning the opening three points of the decider and holding a 6-5 lead.
However, Kudermetova and Timofeeva regrouped to claim five consecutive points, sealing the match tie-break 10-6 and securing a spot in the final against Chinese Taipei’s Cho I-hsuan and Yi Tsen Cho. Across the match, Williams and Tjen were broken three times while converting two of their 11 break-point opportunities.
Context of the Milestone and Singles Struggles
Saturday’s doubles appearance marked a significant milestone in Williams’s storied career, representing her first WTA Tour doubles semifinal since the 2016 Rio Olympics and Wimbledon. More broadly, it was her first overall tour semifinal appearance in any discipline since Indian Wells, California, in 2018.
At the same time, the tournament underscored the contrasting trajectories of her singles and doubles play. Currently ranked No. 599 in singles, Williams was contesting her first singles match in two months following a first-round exit to Sofia Kenin at the 2026 US Open. The defeat to Tagger extended Williams’s current singles losing streak on the tour to 16 consecutive matches, dating back to July 2025.
Broader Tour Perspectives and Ongoing Debates
The week in Guangzhou also cast a spotlight on the wider conversation surrounding wildcard allocations for veteran champions. As noted in coverage from BBC, Williams’s continued presence via wildcards sparks regular discussion regarding the balance between honoring all-time greats and providing developmental opportunities for rising players. While critics question whether such entries take valuable spots from younger athletes, tournament organizers and fans consistently highlight the immense commercial appeal and historic significance of seeing a seven-time Grand Slam champion compete.
Against Tagger, a rising talent coached by former world number four Francesca Schiavone, Williams faced an opponent 28 years her junior in what marked one of the largest age gaps in a WTA match this decade. Despite the lopsided score in singles, Williams demonstrated moments of her trademark resilience, fighting off 12 of 16 break points before ultimately falling.
Next Steps on the Asian Swing
Despite the doubles elimination and ongoing singles challenges, Williams’s competitive schedule on the Asian swing remains active. Organizers have granted the veteran champion another wildcard entry, and she is scheduled to continue her tour action next week at a tournament in Hong Kong.