French Open: Venus Williams exits after defeat to Timea Bacsinszky in fourth round

Venus Williams' chances of adding a first French Open title to her collection of seven grand slams faded on Sunday after the 36-year-old was beaten 5-7 6-2 6-1 by Swiss Timea Bacsinszky in the French Open fourth round. Williams, seeded 10th and competing in her 20th French Open, fought back from 5-1 down rattling off six straight games to win the first set.

But she ran out of steam as the 27-year-old Bacsinszky, who had wasted two set points in the first set, chased her across the court and won the next two with ease, clinching the match with a perfect drop shot. The Swiss, now guaranteed to be the only player to have reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros in 2015, 2016 and 2017, will face local favourite Kristina Mladenovic in the last eight.