The second stop on Serena Williams’ farewell tour was a short one.

The 40-year-old Williams fell to 0-2 in matches since announcing “the countdown has begun” on her career, losing 6-4, 6-0 to U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu in the Western & Southern Open on Tuesday night.

Williams said last week in a Vogue magazine essay and an Instagram post that her career was winding down, although she did not explicitly say the U.S. Open, which begins Aug. 29 in New York, would be her last tournament.

The Cincinnati event was the second U.S. Open tuneup for Williams, and the next time she takes the court will be at Flushing Meadows. She lost to Belinda Bencic in straight sets last week in Toronto.

A day before the momentous announcement, Williams beat Nuria Parrizas-Diaz for her first match win since the 2021 French Open.

Williams is a 23-time Grand Slam champion, most recently in 2017 at the Australian Open, when she was pregnant with daughter Olympia. She said wanting to expand her family was a big reason she plans to step away.

Raducanu, ranked No. 19 in the world, was sharp as she dispatched Williams — and quieted the vocally pro-Williams crowd — in 1 hour, 5 minutes.

Fans cheered heartily when Williams was introduced, and again when she won her first point on a Raducanu error in the second game. Williams yelled in frustration when she double-faulted and screamed even louder and pumped her fist when she won the third game of the first set.

Down 2-0 in the first set, she fought back within 4-3 and then 5-4, but Raducanu closed out the set at love. Raducanu rolled from there, with Williams looking frustrated and even resigned near the end.

Her later-career inconsistency was on display. The players thrilled the crowd with an exciting rally in the fifth game of the second set, won by Williams with a forehand volley. But she double-faulted on the next point on the way to being broken.

She briskly left the court after the match, waving to the crowd as she exited.

Raducanu, a 19-year-old from Britain, faces veteran Victoria Azarenka in Wednesday’s second round. She hasn’t won a title since her out-of-nowhere triumph at the U.S. Open last year.

Earlier Tuesday, four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka was eliminated by Shuai Zhang, 6-4, 7-5.

The tournament lost another big name, Coco Gauff, when she retired from her match against qualifier Marie Bouzkova with a left ankle injury.

College football: Ohio State sophomore RB Evan Pryor will miss the season after suffering a knee injury in practice Monday, ESPN reported. Pryor rushed for 98 yards and a TD on 21 carries as a true freshman for the Buckeyes last fall. He was set to back up TreVeyon Henderson and Miyan Williams this season.

NFL: The Patriots placed veteran CB Malcolm Butler on IR, ending his season and comeback attempt with the franchise where he became a Super Bowl hero seven years ago with his game-sealing INT against the Seahawks. It’s unknown what injury Butler, 32, sustained. He started in the Patriots’ preseason opener Thursday, playing 23 snaps and recovering a fumble, but hadn’t practiced since. Butler, who didn’t play last season, signed a two-year contract with the Patriots in March. ... Browns C Nick Harris was placed on IR and will miss the season with a knee injury suffered on the second snap of the Browns’ preseason opener last week.

Soccer: The suspended World Cup qualifying game between Brazil and Argentina will not be played, the two countries’ governing soccer bodies announced after reaching a deal with FIFA to cancel the match. Both teams agreed to pay a fine for not playing the qualifier, which was stopped shortly after kickoff in September when Brazilian health officials entered the field saying four Argentina players had broken COVID-19 protocols. Both teams have already qualified for the World Cup.