Venus Williams has for the first time in her professional career, bowed out of the United States Open in the first round on Tuesday, losing in straight sets to Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic.

Williams who has made her 22nd appearance at Flushing Meadows in her career spanning four decades was beaten 6-3, 7-5 which her second consecutive first-round defeat at a Grand Slam event after exiting the Australian Open at the same stage in January.

Since 2017, the forty-year-old and seven-time Grand Slam winner has not passed the third round at a Slam event.

Despite her fall out, Williams however has no plan to hang up her racquet, as she disclosed after her loss that she is already looking ahead to the rescheduled French Open and clay court swing through Europe.

She said. “I love this game. I’m good at what I do. It’s easy to stay motivated and excited about doing something so amazing.

“Not many people get to do this. Really fortunate and blessed to be someone who has gotten a chance to do it.

“But I look forward to a few days off. It’s been a lot of work. Looking forward to just having a little bit of a rest before the clay courts.”