Tennis icon Venus Williams continued her losing streak in 2026 after falling in the Guangzhou Open on Tuesday.

Williams, 46, lost in straight sets to Austrian teenager Lilli Tagger in the Chinese tournament, falling 2-6, 2-6.

The defeat drops Williams' record in singles matches this year to 0-13. 

It also moves her losing streak to 16 straight matches on the WTA Tour - dating all the way back to July of 2025.

Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam champion, has fallen to be ranked No. 599 in the world – making her loss to 53rd-ranked Tagger not much of a competitive surprise.

The tennis star and sister of Serena Williams was playing her first singles match since the US Open, where she lost in the first round to Sofia Kenin.

Williams has not won a singles match since the DC Open in 2025, when she beat Peyton Stearns 6-3, 6-4. She fell to five-seed Magdalena Frech in straights the following round.

Her drought in Grand Slams is much longer, having not won since the first round of Wimbledon in 2021. 

There, she beat Mihaela Buzarnescu 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 before losing in straight sets to Ons Jabeur in the second round.   

While her singles form has dropped in her age, Venus has managed to find better success in the doubles world. 

Williams partnered with Janice Tjen and beat the duo of Ekaterine Gorgodze and Kimberly Zimmerman 6-0, 7-5.

Williams and Tjen will face Lyudmyla Kichenok and Makoto Ninomiya in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.