Colombia’s Emiliana Arango pulled off one of the biggest wins of the opening round at the Cincinnati Open on Friday, cruising past seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams 6-2, 6-2 in Mason, Ohio. The 25-year-old produced a confident performance against the 46-year-old American, earning just her second WTA 1000-level match win of the year and sending Williams to her 14th consecutive singles defeat.
Australia’s Talia Gibson also advanced to the second round after fighting back to beat Austria’s Lilli Tagger 4-6, 6-1, 7-5, setting up a blockbuster clash with World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. Meanwhile, several American stars, including Peyton Stearns, Sloane Stephens and Sofia Kenin, also booked their places in the next round.
Emiliana Arango Stuns Venus Williams
“When the draw came out and I saw it, I was like, ‘Oh man.’ It’s so exciting to get this opportunity. When I was growing up, I always saw her on TV, so to get to play her is really crazy,” said Arango, 25.
“My coach told me, ‘I don’t want to see you moving slow; all I want to see is for your legs to go fast,'” she said. “I tried to focus on that, tried to get as many balls back as I could, and I think I did a good job of it.”
Arango saved the only break point she faced. Williams, meanwhile, committed 40 unforced errors en route to her 14th straight singles loss dating to July 2025.
Williams is slated to play doubles with her sister Serena when that draw gets underway.
Talia Gibson Sets Up Aryna Sabalenka Clash
Australia’s Talia Gibson set up a date with World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the second round when Gibson rallied to beat Austria’s Lilli Tagger 4-6, 6-1, 7-5. Gibson fell behind 3-0 in the third set but won four straight to flip the script; she broke Tagger’s serve four times in that set alone en route to a two-hour, 36-minute win.
Peyton Stearns, Sloane Stephens And Sofia Kenin Advance
Peyton Stearns, a Cincinnati native, started her tournament strong with a 6-1, 7-6 (6) triumph over Great Britain’s Harriet Dart.
Stearns was later joined in the second round by fellow Americans and former Grand Slam champions Sloane Stephens and Sofia Kenin. Stephens dispatched Austrian qualifier Sinja Kraus 7-5, 6-3, while Kenin recovered from a rough opening set to defeat Germany’s Eva Lys 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.
More Players Through To The Second Round
Ukraine’s Oleksandra Oliynykova swept Elvina Kalieva 6-4, 6-1 and Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic bounced Alycia Parks 6-2, 6-2.
China’s Xinyu Wang beat Belgium’s Hanne Vandewinkel 6-4, 6-3, while China’s Xiyu Wang, a qualifier, also advanced when opponent Maria Timofeeva of Uzbekistan retired down 6-0, 3-0.
Another retirement occurred in an all-Italian matchup. Lucrezia Stefanini moved on as Elisabetta Cocciaretto packed it in before the end of the first set due to an apparent injury.
Others who advanced Friday include the Czech Republic’s Nikola Bartunkova, Tereza Valentova and Sara Bejlek; Spaniard Jessica Bouzas Maneiro; Ukraine’s Daria Snigur; Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch and Russia’s Anna Blinkova and Liudmila Samsonova.
(With inputs from Reuters)
