Jessica Bouzas defeats Venus Williams in her Cincinnati debut: "It's a dream come true, I'm lucky."

Spanish tennis player Jéssica Bouzas achieved one of the victories she'd long dreamed of on Thursday. She defeated American Venus Williams 6-4, 6-4 in her debut at this year's Cincinnati Masters 1000. She will face Canadian Leylah Fernández in the second round in the next round.

"It wasn't easy at all. She's a legend. It's a privilege to play against someone like that. For me, it's like a dream come true. I never thought I'd get to face Venus Williams, but here I am . I'm just lucky," Bouzas said after the match.

The draw in Cincinnati resulted in a first-round clash with Venus Williams, the legendary 45-year-old tennis player, winner of seven majors, who returned to the circuit this summer when few expected it.

Williams scored her first victory in nearly two years at the Washington Open, having last won in 2023 in Cincinnati.

After filming at the 500 in the capital, Williams accepted the invitation to Cincinnati with the idea of showing that he still has something to say on the circuit , but this Thursday Bouzas blocked his path.

The Spaniard opened the match with a break, opening a gap in the fifth game with a second break that put her 4-1 up on serve . Williams responded with a double break to regain her games and tie the set at 4-4.

However, the eldest of the Williams sisters immediately surrendered her serve and received another break that would ultimately condemn her , as Bouzas made no mistake and took the first set 6-4.

Bouzas also started the second set with a break, a setback that made Williams display her most competitive tennis.

The American broke Bouzas' serve in the fourth game, immediately gave it away, and broke again in the sixth to level at 3-3 . She then defended her serve in the seventh to take her only lead of the match at 3-4.

But just like in the first set, the Galician broke her serve for the third time to take a 5-4 lead.

With a 40-0 lead, Bouzas had three match points , although he only needed the second one to advance.

"It wasn't easy, it was very tough playing against her. I tried to put a lot of intensity into it, but I couldn't catch a break. She hits the ball really hard, and maybe I wasn't ready for that. Even so, I tried to stay focused, stay positive, and take it point by point," she explained in a courtside interview.