Venus Williams falls to Uzbekistan's Rakhimova in rain-delayed 1st round at National Bank Open

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 Toronto's 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."

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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