Venus Williams walked off the court at the 2026 Hong Kong Open to familiar cheers and a familiar argument. The 46-year-old had just suffered another loss, prompting tennis fans to revive the backlash over the American’s continued acceptance of wildcards on the WTA Tour.
Williams struggled to challenge World No. 114 Mary Stoiana in her opening match at the Hong Kong Open, with the 23-year-old securing a dominant 6-2, 6-3 victory in 77 minutes. Williams, ranked No. 597, dropped serve four times and did not create a single break point as she ended her 2026 season with an 0-14 record.
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The seven-time Grand Slam champion has not won a tour-level singles match since July 22, 2025, when she beat Peyton Stearns 6-3, 6-4 in Washington in her first event after a 16-month injury layoff. The defeats since include straight-sets losses to Sofia Kenin at the US Open and to 18-year-old Lilli Tagger in Guangzhou last week.
The latest exit sparked calls for retirement, with one fan even accusing Venus Williams of “destroying her legacy.”
“Is Venus Williams broke? I cannot think of any other reason why she would travel to Hong Kong to play a 250 at the end of the year knowing she simply is not gonna win a match. I know she loves tennis but surely she cannot be enjoying this,” one fan commented.
“Can she just stop,” another fan wrote.
“She’s destroying her own legacy. I’m not even hating but what’s the point of all this? Trying to prove that age is just a number while losing every match you’ve been on this year? She would’ve been better off coaching,” said another.
Others aimed their frustration at the tournaments handing out the wildcards, arguing that a place for the world No. 597 is a place taken from someone else.
“0-14 in 2026. Are the wildcards really going to keep coming next year,” one user posted.
“How long is this going to continue?” another fan questioned.
“Another wasted WC for a washed up performance by Venus, sad that someone else doesn’t get a chance because of her. I blame the organizers, can’t really fault her for accepting free money for showing up,” said yet another.
Venus Williams brings up Serena Williams as she addresses her 2027 plans
Venus Williams addressed her plans for 2027 while speaking to the press after her Hong Kong Open exit, hinting that they would be influenced by her sister. Serena Williams, 44, returned to competition this year after nearly four years away, playing doubles at the Queen’s Club Championships in June and making her singles comeback at Wimbledon.
“I haven’t made any plans for next year, also this year I didn’t make plans, just took it one step at a time. We’ll see. I’m going to ask what Serena’s doing, probably copy her,” she said.
The seven-time Grand Slam champion said the decision carried no pressure for her while highlighting how she and Serena constantly motivated each other.
“We’ve always motivated each other. I’m really fully focused on every one week at a time, and whatever happens will happen, and I don’t have pressure to decide or anything,” she added.
The Williams sisters revived their doubles partnership on tour this year, losing their opening matches at both the Cincinnati Open and the US Open. Venus is still competing in doubles in Hong Kong this week, alongside Xu Yifan.
Venus Williams and Father Richard recall one match that 7-time Grand Slam champion “should have won”
Edited by Urvi Mehra
