Nothing works for Williams in one-sided singles loss
Serena Williams walked off the court offering waves to a supportive Bay Area crowd that certainly didn’t expect to see the 23-time Grand Slam champion’s early exit.
In the most lopsided defeat of her career, Williams’ disappointing night ended in less than an hour as she lost her opening match of the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic to Johanna Konta, 6-1, 6-0.
When the 52-minute match ended on Williams’ forehand into the net, she quickly grabbed her gear and headed off the court. She had never won only one game — she won her serve for the initial game then not another. She got two games at the 2014 WTA finals in Singapore, falling 6-0, 6-2 to Simona Halep.
“I know I can play a zillion times better so that kind of helps out, too. I have so many things on my mind I don’t have time to be shocked about a loss that clearly wasn’t at my best right now,” Williams said.
While Williams was encouraged by her court coverage, she hardly looked like herself on a cool summer evening. She double-faulted and landed drop shots in the net. She missed returns and sprayed her groundstrokes long and wide.
Konta, who captured her first WTA title two years ago at Stanford, got on a roll with a quick first set and didn’t take a chance in letting Williams get back in it. Konta closed the first game of the second with consecutive aces.
“I think she played well in the second set,” Williams said. “I wasn’t sharp at all in the first set and I think she got confident and clearly ran away with it.”
The sixth-seeded Williams is a three-time champion in the Bay Area. This marked the fifth tournament for the 36-year-old Williams since giving birth to her daughter, Alexis Olympia, last September. It’s her first tourna- ment since her straight-set Wimbledon loss to Angelique Kerber.
Williams shrugged in disbelief when things went well, and when they didn’t. She gestured with her hand when the ball hit the lowest part of the net. She had moments of brilliant shot-making to win long rallies, then would put a drop shot into the net and sigh in disappointment.
“It’s difficult, I guess. It’s not I guess, for sure,” she said of trying to find that consistency again.
From here, Williams goes to Montreal next week as she received a wild card into the Rogers Cup.
Following her loss in the Wimbledon final to Kerber, Williams said she had proven to herself that she could still compete to win Grand Slams.