Serena Williams handed worst defeat of her career at WTA San Jose

Serena Williams suffered the most lopsided loss of her career at the WTA San Jose event on Tuesday, losing the final 12 games in a shocking first-round upset to unseeded Johanna Konta.

By :  migrator
Update: 2018-08-01 17:10 GMT
Serena Williams handed worst defeat of her career at WTA San Jose
Serena Williams
  • whatsapp icon

Los Angeles

The 23-time Grand Slam winner struggled mightily against the British No. 1 and former winner Konta, who crushed Williams 6-1, 6-0 in just 51 minutes on the main Stadium.

Williams, who was playing her first match since dropping the Wimbledon final, is trying to regain her top form after missing most of the 2017 season due to a pregnancy.

The 36-year-old Williams tried to shrug off the worst loss of her hall of fame career.

"I don't know. I have so many things on my mind that I don't have time to be shocked about a loss where I clearly wasn't at my best," she said.

Williams, who was seeded sixth, managed just nine winners against 25 unforced errors and had her serve broken six times.

She looked nothing like the player that dominated the Tour for years, winning 72 singles titles and earning more than $86 million in prize money.

"She obviously wasn't playing her best level -- nowhere near -- so I tried to play the match on my terms and just do what I can out here," Konta said.

Both women were playing their first match since Wimbledon, where Williams finished runner-up to Angelique Kerber and Konta lost in the second round to eventual quarter-finalist Dominika Cibulkova.

The loss to Konta comes just over a month after Williams complained that she is being discriminated against by the sport's drug testing program because of the number of samples she is being asked to provide.

"Out of all the players it's been proven I'm the one getting tested the most. Discrimination? I think so," Williams wrote in a tweet.

Williams had won this tournament the last three times she played it in 2011, 2012 and 2014 and won her only previous meeting with Konta 6-2 6-3 in the 2017 Australian Open quarter-finals.

"I think she played better in this match than she did 18 months ago, so that's a good thing for her," said Williams.

Visit news.dtnext.in to explore our interactive epaper!

Download the DT Next app for more exciting features!

Click here for iOS

Click here for Android

Similar News