American tennis legend Venus Williams fell in the first round of the Mutua Madrid Open to Spaniard Kaitlin Quevedo, who earned her second tour-level win on Manolo Santana Stadium on Tuesday.
Former world number one Venus Williams accepted a wildcard into the Mutua Madrid Open main draw, marking her return to clay-court competition in five years on Tuesday at Caja Magica.
However, the 45-year-old comeback to the red clay was cut short by Kaitlin Quevedo, who beat the American player 6-2, 6-4 in one hour and 43 minutes, becoming the youngest Spaniard to win a main-draw match at the Masters 1000 tournament.
Assessing her first WTA 1000 main-draw win, Quevedo said: "I didn't know that was going to happen. I'm just really happy that I was able to play against such a legend on this amazing court for the first time. It was a privilege, and I'm just really happy to be here."
The 20-year-old hit first, breaking three times on her way to take the opening set 6-2.
As the second set wore on, the seven-time Grand Slam champion charged to open a 3-0 advantage she would eventually surrender to an opponent determined to leave the court with a win in her pocket.
After setting the scoreline even, the world No. 140 never looked back, completing a straight-set triumph on home soil, winning 63 percent of the points on her first serve.
In the second round, she will meet world No. 32, Hailey Baptiste.
During her post-match press conference, the 49 WTA title holder outlined: "I felt like in the last game I started to move better on the clay. But then it was the last game. All these things take adjustments.
"I started my practice on clay a couple of 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 four-time Olympic winner will continue her campaign in Madrid, playing alongside Brit Katie Boulter in the women's doubles.
"I'm looking forward to playing with her because I think our energies will really match," Williams expressed.
The duo received a wildcard and will face off against Xinyu Jiang and Xu Yifan in their first round.