Melbourne, Jan 20 (UNI) Venus Williams and Ekaterina Alexandrova exited the women’s doubles competition at the Australian Open after suffering a first-round defeat on Tuesday.
The pair were beaten 7-6 (3), 6-4 by France’s Elsa Jacquemot and Colombia’s Emiliana Arango in a closely contested encounter.
The opening set saw both teams trade blows in an intense back-and-forth battle before Jacquemot and Arango edged ahead to clinch the tiebreak. Building on that momentum, the Franco-Colombian duo gained control in the second set and, despite a spirited fightback from Williams and Alexandrova, sealed the match to progress to the next round.
Williams, who entered the tournament on a wildcard, made history as the oldest woman to feature in the singles main draw at the Australian Open. Tuesday’s doubles defeat marked the end of her campaign at the 2026 season-opening Grand Slam.
