On comeback, Venus Williams fades against teenager Naef

Venus Williams, playing her first match since early January, went down 3-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 to Celine Naef in the first round in 's-Hertengebosch in the Netherlands on Tuesday

Williams, who turns 43 on Saturday, started strongly but faded as Naef, a 17-year old Swiss ranked 202 in the world, who won in hour 19 minutes.

Williams, ranked 696, was a wild card entry and was competing in the Netherlands for the first time in her career. It was her first singles match on grass since Wimbledon in 2021.

She last played in Auckland in January where she lost her second match to Zhu Lin of China, sustaining a hamstring that forced her to withdraw from the Australian Open.

On Tuesday, Williams broke in the eighth game on her way to taking the first set.

She then broke in the fifth game of the second. But Naef broke back and won the tie break.

Naef broke in three straight Williams service games in the third set. After the American saved a match point as she held in the seventh game, Naef served out to love.

In the next round, the Swiss will face eighth seed Catherine McNally who eased past fellow American Katie Volynets 6-2, 6-1.

Veronika Kudermetova is top seed in a field that also includes Belinda Bencic, Bianca Andreescu and Victoria Azarenka.