Venus Williams falls to Kamilla Rakhimova in rain-delayed first round at NBO

TORONTO — Venus Williams sat through a weather delay as rain pelted centre court.

The seven-time Grand Slam winner then battled hard early before bowing out late after the skies finally cleared.

Kamilla Rakhimova defeated Williams 6-4, 6-1 to kick off the National Bank Open women’s main draw Sunday at Sobeys Stadium.

Granted a singles wild-card entry at the WTA 1000 event, the 46-year-old tennis icon has now lost 12 straight matches dating back to July 2025.

Williams did not speak with reporters following her latest setback that included a wait of close to two hours from the original 12:30 p.m. ET start, but conducted a brief interview with a member of the tour’s communications department.

“We play outside … you can’t control the weather,” said the four-time Olympic gold medallist. “But the fans were amazing. They were with me right in every point – that was fantastic.”

“I was just fighting to put the ball on the court,” she added. “I had some chances.”

Rakhimova fought off a break point down 4-3 in the first set and then broke Williams to go up 5-4 before the 24-year-old from Uzbekistan held serve.

Ranked No. 82 in the world, she broke Williams again to open the second set and secured two more breaks in coasting to victory in one hour 27 minutes in the players’ first-ever meeting.

“Playing Venus is not an everyday experience,” Rakhimova said. “I’m very glad to actually get a chance to play against her. I was looking forward to that match. I knew it was gonna be a centre-court match. I was trying to enjoy my time on it, no matter what the result is.

“And I think I did pretty well.”

Making her 13th appearance in Canada, the 664th-ranked Williams put up her best showing at the country’s annual showcase in 2014 when she defeated younger sister Serena to reach the final.

“Determination and just fighting,” she said of the takeaways from Sunday’s performance. “It was really fun to be back after having not been here for a while.”

Heavy rain pelted the venue on the York University campus in Toronto earlier Sunday, pushing a scheduled late-morning start into the afternoon.

Fellow wild card Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., who became the first Canadian in 50 years to win the tournament in 2019, was slated to meet Czechia’s Nikola Bartunkova in evening play.

A couple of other wild-card hopefuls were in action early on home soil.

Toronto’s Katherine Sebov topped Japanese qualifier Aoi Ito 6-3, 6-4, while Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro picked up a 6-2, 6-4 win over Ariana Arsenault of Richmond Hill, Ont. Cadence Brace of Oakville, Ont., faced McCartney Kessler of the U.S. later Sunday.

World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus opens her tournament Tuesday following a first-round bye.

Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., is the top-seeded Canadian at No. 30. Her tournament is set to begin Wednesday after also getting a bye.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 2, 2026.

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press