In oldest WTA match, Tatjana Maria defeats Venus Williams in Hobart
The 38-year-old mother of two defeated the 45-year-old former world No. 1 in straight sets.
Tatjana Maria made recent history with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Venus Williams in the first round of the Hobart International.
The match, the first between the two veterans, featured a combined age of more than 84 years—making it the oldest match since the 1973 founding of the WTA tour. Perhaps fittingly, it came a week after the 38-year-old Maria was beaten in the first round of the Brisbane International by 17-year-old Aussie Emerson Jones.
"Everybody loves Venus—I love her too!" the German, who makes her family home near Williams in Florida, said after breaking serve five times in just under an hour-and-a-half on court.
She even joked that her two daughters, 12-year-old Charlotte and 4-year-old Cecilia, count Williams among their favorite players.
"They said they are for me! But Charlotte's reaction was, 'Oh my God, that's amazing. I'm going to see Venus against you?'," Maria said. "For me, to play her was such an honor because I never played her before. It was not easy with all the wind but it was amazing."
Since becoming the second-oldest winner of a WTA main-draw singles match in the Open Era last summer in Washington, D.C., former world No. 1 Williams has lost five straight singles matches.
Nonetheless, she'll make her 22nd career main-draw appearance at the Australian Open next week after being awarded a main-draw wild card.