Venus Williams impresses but eventually falls to Rebecca Marino in her return to tour at Citi Open

Canadian qualifier Rebecca Marino edged out American wildcard Venus Williams 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 to move into the last 16 of the Citi Open on Monday night.

It was a special night in the nation’s capital, with Williams making her return to the tour and playing her first match since last summer, and the crowd was enthusiastic as the 42-year-old American took the opening set, and then again as she led by a break in the third.

“Just trying to shake off some rust. That’s just to be expected. All I can do is just play another tournament and play better.”

— Venus Williams

But a resilient Marino caught up to Williams late in the third, capitalizing on a double-fault to break for 4-3, before reeling off the final four games of the contest.

Williams has not won on tour since the first round at Wimbledon in 2021, but she will have more chances this summer, as she has accepted wild cards into the National Bank Open and the Western and Southern Open.

“It’s my first match, so I didn’t think I played well a lot of the times. Just a little rusty. I really put myself in good positions in the third set, too,” Williams said. “Just trying to shake off some rust. That’s just to be expected. All I can do is just play another tournament and play better.”

Marino improves to 5-9 at tour-level in 2022.

Marino, ranked No 111, will face the winner of the match between German Andrea Petkovic and Dane Clara Tauson, the No 8 seed, next.