After almost three hours of tennis, Begu knocked out Venus Williams on the grass in Bad Homburg
Irina-Camelia Begu reached the second round of the WTA Bad Homburg Open after one of the longest and tensest matches of the opening part of the competition. The Romanian qualifier defeated Venus Williams 6:2, 4:6, 7:6(6), in a match that, according to the WTA report, lasted two hours and 57 minutes. The duel was played in Bad Homburg, a town in the German federal state of Hessen, on a grass surface that at this stage of the season serves as final preparation for Wimbledon. With the victory, Begu ended a winless streak in the main draw of WTA tournaments that had lasted since last year’s title in Iași, while Williams remained without her first singles victory of the 2026 season. The result was particularly painful for the American tennis player because she served for the match in the third set but failed to close it out.
Turnaround after Begu’s dominance and Williams’s major comeback
Begu entered the match more confidently and quickly imposed a rhythm in the first set that Williams struggled to follow. According to the WTA’s description of the match, after the opening set the Romanian continued stringing games together and took a 6:2, 2:0 lead, making it seem that the duel might end much earlier than it eventually did. Williams, however, gradually reduced her number of errors, began using her first serve better and returned to the match by taking the second set. She won it 6:4, turning the encounter into a physically and mentally demanding grass-court duel, on the surface on which she achieved the greatest successes of her career.
The third set brought the most twists and the most drama. According to the WTA, Williams led 5:3 and served for the victory, but Begu managed to break back at the moment when she was under the greatest pressure. In the decisive tie-break, the American tennis player saved two match points and levelled at 6:6, but her eleventh double fault of the match gave Begu a new opportunity. The Romanian then converted her third match point and finished the encounter 8:6 in the third-set tie-break. The final points tally, according to the WTA, was 117:115 for Begu, showing how little separated the two players after almost three hours of play.
Statistically, the match was almost even. The WTA states that Begu finished the encounter with 28 winners and Williams with 27, while the Romanian tennis player made four breaks, one more than her opponent. Such a distribution of figures reflects the course of the match well: Begu had the better start and the steadier closing moments, while Williams between those two periods showed that she can still change the rhythm of a match against experienced opponents. For Begu, the decisive factor was her ability to stay calm after losing her advantage in the second set and after finding herself on the brink of defeat in the third. For Williams, the decisive factor was the combination of a missed opportunity while serving for the match and costly errors in the closing stages.
First major reward for Begu after a health break
The victory carries additional weight for Begu because it comes after a period in which she lacked continuity in appearances. The WTA report recalls that after her title in Iași in 2025, the Romanian player took a nine-month break, during which she spoke about problems with her body and her health. She began her return to the Tour in April 2026, but the results were uneven, and Bad Homburg brought her first success in a main draw since her comeback. In that context, the victory against Williams is not only a result worthy of the second round, but also confirmation that Begu can once again handle the pressure of long matches at WTA level.
In an on-court interview carried by the WTA, Begu explained that the break after Iași was necessary because, despite winning the tournament, she did not feel well and did not have enough energy for daily training. She stressed that the rest helped her and that she now feels better, which she showed on court precisely in the moments when the duel could have gone Williams’s way. Her reaction after the match was measured but also emotional, because the victory came against a player she had watched for years as one of the greatest figures in women’s tennis. According to the WTA, Begu emphasized that it is not easy to play against a “legend like Venus”, especially in a match that lasted almost three hours.
For the 35-year-old Romanian, this is also a continuation of a career in which she has already shown the ability to return after demanding periods. Begu’s WTA profile states that her best singles ranking was No. 22 in the world and that she has won WTA titles in both singles and doubles during her career. In 2025, according to the WTA, she won the sixth WTA title of her career in Iași, ending a multi-year period without a trophy. Given that she entered Bad Homburg through qualifying, this victory further increases the value of her tournament because it shows that she had already gone through competitive matches before facing Williams.
Williams remained without her first victory in 2026
Venus Williams played in Bad Homburg with a wild card from the organizers, and the official WTA player list includes her among the tournament’s wild card participants. According to the WTA report, this was her first grass-court match since Wimbledon 2023, a fact that further explains the crowd’s interest in the encounter against Begu. Williams came to Bad Homburg as a seven-time Grand Slam singles champion and former world No. 1, but also as a player still seeking her first singles triumph of the 2026 season. The WTA states that after this defeat her season record is 0-8, and her losing streak has been extended to 11 matches.
Despite the defeat, Williams showed passages of play reminiscent of her best years on grass. The most important element was her comeback from a set and a break down, because in the early phase the match looked one-sided. Particularly important was the second set, in which she managed to find a better balance between aggressive hitting and patience in rallies. Still, the third set also showed how difficult it is to finish a match after a longer absence from grass-court tournaments and without a winning rhythm in the season. Williams had a chance to finish the job at 5:3, but Begu came back, and the decisive tie-break turned into a series of small margins that decided the match.
The broader context for Williams remains linked to Wimbledon, where she won five singles titles during her career. According to an earlier WTA announcement, the Williams sisters received a wild card to compete in the women’s doubles at Wimbledon 2026, meaning Venus will be able to redirect her focus to London after Bad Homburg. Although the singles result in Germany will not change the weight of her career, the continuation of her losing streak confirms how demanding it is to return to the highest level in the later phase of professional sport. At the same time, the way she played the second set and most of the third shows that she can still create pressure against highly experienced players.
Bad Homburg as an important stop before Wimbledon
The Bad Homburg Open powered by Solarwatt is held on grass at TC Bad Homburg, and according to the organizers’ official information, the tournament in 2026 is played from 20 to 27 June. It is a WTA 500 tournament that has positioned itself as one of the key preparations for Wimbledon, and the organizers describe it as an official warm-up tournament for the London Grand Slam. The official WTA schedule document for 23 June states a prize fund of 1,049,083 euros and confirms the grass surface and the tournament’s status. This combination of timing, surface and draw quality explains why Bad Homburg attracts players who want to test their form in the final week before Wimbledon.
The 2026 draw includes a number of strong names, and the official WTA player list names, among others, Iga Świątek as the top seed, Mirra Andreeva as the second, Elina Svitolina as the third and Karolina Muchova as the fourth seed. In such company, qualifier Begu’s passage into the second round carries additional weight because every victory at this tournament is achieved against competition that is a combination of seeds, returnees, qualifiers and wild card players. For many tennis players, the tournament in Bad Homburg has a double value: it brings WTA 500-level points and prize money, but also a very concrete test of movement, serving and reaction to the lower bounce of the ball on grass.
For Begu, the next challenge will be even harder. The WTA states that in the second round she will face Karolina Muchova, the tournament’s fourth seed, and their head-to-head record before that meeting stands at 2-2. The WTA report also highlights that this will be their fifth meeting and their first outside clay, which changes the tactical framework of the encounter. Against Williams, Begu showed that she can survive difficult closing stages, but against Muchova she will have to find stability from the start because the Czech player generally punishes short balls and uses a varied game. The victory over Williams is therefore an important step, but not the end of the work for the Romanian player in Bad Homburg.
A match that opened different stories for both players
For Begu, the first-round match in Bad Homburg brought a result that could be a turning point in her season. The qualifying path, the victory over a globally recognizable opponent and entry into the second round of a WTA 500 tournament give her ranking, competitive and psychological value. After a break due to health problems, such a match is especially important because it confirms that she can withstand almost three hours of high intensity on a demanding surface. In professional tennis, such victories often have significance greater than simply progressing to the next round, especially when they come after a period of uncertainty. In Bad Homburg, Begu gained proof that her comeback has a stronger foundation than earlier results in the season had suggested.
For Williams, the defeat is a continuation of a difficult run of results, but also a match that showed her competitive ability has not disappeared. In the closing stages she was very close to victory, and the comeback from the early situation of 2:6, 0:2 shows that experience can still change the dynamics of a match. Still, at WTA level that is often not enough without match continuity, especially when endings are this tight. Bad Homburg therefore remained a missed opportunity for her in singles competition, while Begu leaves the same encounter with a victory that opens the second round for her and gives her additional belief before the duel with Muchova. In a tournament week immediately preceding Wimbledon, matches like these often show best who has found a rhythm on grass and who is still searching for it.
Sources:
- WTA – report from the Begu against Venus Williams match, result, course of the encounter, statements and preview of the second round (link)
- WTA – official draw of the Bad Homburg Open powered by Solarwatt 2026 and tournament status (link)
- Bad Homburg Open – official information about the tournament, dates, location and WTA 500 status (link)
- WTA – official schedule for 23 June 2026, surface and tournament prize money (link)
- WTA – official profile of Irina-Camelia Begu, ranking, career high and biographical data (link)
- WTA – official profile of Venus Williams, career high, current ranking and career data (link)
- WTA – information about the wild card for Venus and Serena Williams in the women’s doubles at Wimbledon 2026 (link)