Getting older is not fazing Williams as the 45-year-old athlete recently became the second-oldest woman to win a tour-level singles match in professional tennis when she beat Peyton Stearns with a 6-3, 6-4 score at the DC Open last month.

“The colorful beads and butterfly hair clips that marked the teenage style of Venus Williams were gone. From the moment she strode onto Center Court today, the streamlined 20-year-old with the Paul Bunyan backswing had the look of a serious young woman. A scowl was as good as any accessory.

Venus Williams rallied from 4-1 down in the first set but could not maintain momentum, the seven-time Grand Slam champion falling 6-4, 6-4 to Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in the first round of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open on Thursday.