Serena Williams Crashes out of Wimbledon in Third Round
By Opeyemi Oladunjoye
Top seed, Serena Williams, suffered her earliest Wimbledon exit since 2005 after French woman, Alize Cornet dominated with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over the American on Saturday.
The upset which was the biggest of Wimbledon’s first week now leaves world No 3, Simona Halep as the highest seed still standing.
Williams dominated the first set with finesse as most thought she would go through the match undaunted. However, her form which has been short of her standards all year since her return from foot surgery and a pulmonary embolism, fell again.
Williams has now fallen out in three grand slams this year; in the fourth round at the Australian Open in Melbourne, in the second round at the French Open in Paris and now in the third round at Wimbledon.
Russia’s Maria Sharapova, who is ranked at No 5 has now earned Williams’ spot as the favourite for this tournament. Sharapova has a terrible record against Williams, having lost 15 straight matches to her since 2010.
Williams when seaking about her defeat said: “Everyone in general plays the match of their lives against me, so I just have to always, every time I step on the court, be a hundred times better. If I’m not, then I’m in trouble.
“These girls, when they play me, they play as if they’re on the ATP Tour [the men’s side of the game], and then they play other girls completely different. It’s never easy, you know, being in my shoes. But you got to be ready.”
During the game, the two players had to deal with the weather delays that interrupted their match after just a few minutes’ play, and sent them back to the locker-room for four hours to pass the time as best they could. After the resumption, Williams reeled off five straight games to seal the opening set, only for Cornet to reply in kind in the second.
“I think the rain delay killed me a little bit because I started the match very well,” said Cornet, having sealed the biggest win of her career. “I just lost my way a little bit. I was not into the match, feeling a bit slow. Serena was better on her side.
“After that, I think she lost a little bit her concentration in the beginning of the second set and I used it to come back in the match, and finally I played way better from the beginning of the second set. After that, I was trying to play just point after point, trying to fight as usual and play simple.”
Cornet will play against Eugenie Bouchard in the fourth round and will have to keep her swings perfect if she wants to win this title.
