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Venus Williams, who returned to tennis last month after being away from the sport for more than a year, lost to Jessica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of the Cincinnati Open.

After 49 career titles and seven Grand Slams in singles play, Venus Williams hits the suburbs of Cincinnati as a wild-card entrant, sporting a WTA ranking of No. 571. It sounds unceremonious, but this Cincinnati Open bid really marks a long and arduous comeback effort for one of tennis’ all-time greats.

Venus Williams remained upbeat after her first-round loss in Cincinnati, saying she now feels healthy enough to focus ahead of the US Open.

After playing in the final in Montreal on Thursday night, it was announced Friday that both would no longer play in the Cincinnati tournament. Mboko, an 18-year-old Canadian who won the first WTA title of her career at the 1000-level event in front of an enamored home crowd,

The two finalists from Montreal, Naomi Osaka and Victoria Mboko, have withdrawn from the Cincinnati tournament (August 7 to 18). After playing the final of the Canadian Masters 1000 on Thursday night into Friday,