MOSCOW, Oct 3: Top seed Venus Williams, playing her first match since the U.S. Open final defeat by sister Serena, was beaten 2-6 6-1 7-6 by unseeded Bulgarian Magdalena Maleeva at the Kremlin Cup Thursday.

Organisers received another blow when home favourite Anna Kournikova withdrew from the $2.2 million tournament with an ankle injury.

WTA officials said x-rays taken on Thursday morning revealed that Kournikova suffered a partial tear of the anterior ligament in her left ankle in a doubles match on Wednesday.

They said the 21-year-old Russian will probably miss the rest of the year. WTA officials said Kournikova will be evaluated in the next few days to find out the extent of the injury.

Williams fired 13 aces but also committed eight double faults and 45 unforced errors in a 98-minute match.

After winning the first set 6-2, Williams’s powerful service game just fell apart as the American was broken twice to lose the second set 6-1 after only 23 minutes.

In the third, Williams lost her serve again in the third game, but got the break back in the sixth as the two went into a tie-breaker with Maleeva prevailing 7-3.