Venus Williams’ bid for her first winning streak since 2019 ended with a 6-2, 6-2 loss to 24th-ranked Magdalena Frech at the D.C. Open on Thursday night.

Williams is 45, and her victory in the first round Tuesday night against 35th-ranked Peyton Stearns made the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion the oldest woman to win a tour-level singles match since Martina Navratilova was 47 in 2004.

That was Williams’ first win in singles since 2023, and she joked afterward that she was motivated to succeed because she wanted to be able to get back on the WTA’s health insurance plan after being off the tour for more than a year.

She won a doubles match in Washington, too. This hard-court tournament was the first event for Williams since March 2024; she missed time because of surgery for uterine fibroids.

The last time Williams won at least two matches in a row was in August 2019, at the Cincinnati Open, where she put together three consecutive victories before losing to Madison Keys in the quarterfinals.