Magdalena Frech was the villain of the piece in Washington, but made sure she won the crowd over after knocking Venus Williams out of the Citi Open.
Williams, a tennis icon who has won seven Grand Slam titles, made headlines this week as she returned to the court after a 16-month hiatus.
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Frech paid a heartwarming tribute to Williams after knocking her out of the Citi OpenCredit: Getty
Aged 45, she became the oldest woman to win a tour-level singles match since Martina Navratilova in 2004 with an opening-round victory over Peyton Stearns on Tuesday.
But the American’s run was ended by No. 5 seed Frech in Washington DC, who became emotional after her 6-2, 6-2 second round victory.
“She’s a super star, she’s like a god here, so it was very emotional for me to handle this match,” Frech said of Williams.
“I can’t even imagine myself in 17 years to still on the court — no chance!
“It was really a great match and a great honor to play her.”
Williams, who played four matches — two singles and two doubles — over the course of four days, admitted she ‘ran out of gas’ before being knocked out of singles competition.
“Oh, I had so much fun,” she said.
“Definitely not the result I wanted, but still a learning experience. The part about sport (and) life is that you never stop learning.
“I got to play a lot of matches here and that definitely was a plus. The fans in DC are just epic. I couldn’t have been happier with my first week back.
“I feel like I ran out of gas today, unfortunately.
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Williams admitted she ran out of energy in her second-round defeatCredit: Getty
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She is expected to return to the court at the Cincinnati Open next monthCredit: Getty
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Frech described Williams as a ‘god’ after sending her packingCredit: Getty/WTA
“I tried to find the energy, and I didn’t find it.”
While Williams took an early 2-1 lead against Frech, the 27-year-old hit back with a dominant run of seven straight games en-route to a comfortable win.
The world No. 24 moves on to face Elena Rybakina in her quarterfinal match on Friday.
Williams, meanwhile, is expected to be back on the court again soon, and has accepted a wildcard to play in the Cincinnati Open next month.
The American also shared a significant personal update with fans earlier this week.
Is Venus Williams in a relationship?
During an interview after her first-round win in Washington, the five-time Wimbledon champion confirmed her engagement to actor Andrea Preti.
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Williams confirmed her engagement to Preti this weekCredit: Getty
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He had the opportunity to watch her play for the first time in DCCredit: Getty
As they were speaking post-game, interviewer Rennae Stubbs called Williams a ‘newly engaged woman’ and the tennis star smiled in response.
“Yes, my fiancé is here,” she said, sparking applause from the crowd.
“And he really encouraged me to keep playing.
“There were so many times where I just wanted to coast and kind of chill.”
“You guys don’t know how much work goes into this, like it’s a nine to five except you’re running the whole time. Lifting weights and just like dying, and then you repeat it the next time.
“So he encouraged me to get through this, and it’s wonderful to be here. He’s never seen me play.”
As well as losing to Frech in singles competition, Williams and her partner Hailey Baptiste have also been knocked out of the doubles.
They were beaten 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 by Taylor Townsend and Zhang Shuai, who advanced to face Emma Raducanu and Rybakina in the semis.
After a 16-month gap between her matches, Williams will be back in action again in a couple of weeks after being handed a wild card into the Cincinnati Open.