Venus Eyes Roland Garros After First Clay Match in Five Years

Williams targets French Open wild card

Seven-time Slam champ Venus Williams, 45, took her first clay loss since 2021 in Madrid. Despite the defeat, she’s eyeing a French Open run: “I enjoy the clay, it’s fun.”

 

Venus Williams intends to play Roland Garros after making her clay return in Madrid...

Venus Williams said she hopes to play this year’s French Open after competing on clay for the first time in five years and falling in the Madrid Open first round.

Williams lost 6-2, 6-4 to fellow wild card Kaitlin Quevedo in the opening round on Tuesday. It was her 10th straight singles defeat since returning midway through last season from a 16-month break.

 

As a seven-time Grand Slam singles champion, she’ll need a wild card to enter Roland Garros.

“Yeah, I mean, to get my feet dirty, this was a great start,” Williams, 45, told reporters.

“I’m not able to play Rome. I have other commitments, unfortunately, so I’m actually really super sad about that.

“My husband is Italian, so we feel sad that we can’t be there. So we would love to keep it going on the clay.”

  

Venus Williams says in her press conference that she wants to play Roland Garros. “My husband is Italian, I would love to play Rome as well but that won’t be possible.”

Rome gave all the wild cards to Italian players.

— José Morgado (@josemorgado) April 21, 2026

Williams’ previous clay match before Madrid came at the 2021 French Open, and she said she was pleased with her performance.

“I felt like in the last game I started to move better on the clay. But then it was the last game,” she added.

“All these things take adjustments. I started my practice on clay a couple weeks after Miami. I haven’t really played on clay in years. But I enjoy the clay, it’s fun.

“I played against a very inspired opponent today.”

The French Open starts May 24.