Serena and Venus Williams vowed to return stronger than ever on Monday after their five-year reign at Wimbledon was brought to an abrupt end in the fourth round.
The all-conquering sisters — practically invincible at Wimbledon since 2000 with a staggering nine titles between them — were dumped out in the last 16 after suffering straight-sets defeats.
Defending champion Serena was beaten 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) by French ninth seed Marion Bartoli, while big sister Venus lost 6-2, 6-3 to Bulgaria’s Tsvetana Pironkova for the second year in a row.
Photo: EPA
“This was definitely not our best day. I think we both envisioned seeing this day going a little bit different,” Venus said.
However, the Williams sisters rejected suggestions that their double defeat marked the end of an era after a year in which they have both struggled with lengthy injury lay-offs and health problems.
Former world No. 1 Serena, who had not played for nearly a year before returning in the warm-up event at Eastbourne earlier this month, insisted she still had the desire to return to the top.
Photo: Reuters
“I made an effort to get out here and play a couple of tournaments. I just can’t sit here and be disappointed. For the most part, I can just use this as momentum going forward,” Serena said. “I can only get better and that can potentially be really scary, because I can only go up from here and I can just do so much more. I obviously would have loved to do better, but considering the condition I was in, considering a lot of things, I really feel I did well. I would have been sad being at home watching it on TV, like I’m going to be soon. I just feel like I can do a lot better, which would really suck if I was here thinking: ‘Wow, I played my best and that was the best that I could do.’”
Serena’s defeat will see her world ranking drop to about 180th and she may require a wild-card to compete at the US Open unless she picks up ranking points during the early part of the hard-court season.
Venus, 31, who only returned earlier this month after five months out with a hip injury sustained at the Australian Open, is also confident she will improve by the time the North American hard-court season climaxes at the US Open.
“I look forward to it. I got ready for this tournament so fast. You wouldn’t even believe how quick that happened,” Venus said. “With more time, I think I can definitely play better, more matches. Obviously, I would love to have peaked here, but, you know, I’m moving on. I think I have the opportunity throughout the summer to play more matches and be better, and hopefully avoid moments like this.”
Fred Kerley is competing unaugmented against drug-fuelled athletes at this weekend’s Enhanced Games and still hopes to race in the 2028 Olympics, the suspended former 100m world champion said on Friday. Arguably the biggest name at the divisive event in Las Vegas, where doping is permitted, the US sprinter said he had chosen not to take any of the banned substances including testosterone and steroids that his competitors have been using. “I don’t need it. God gave me fast feet for a reason. And I’m here to showcase my talent,” Kerley said. Kerley last September became the first US competitor and first track
MLB is experiencing an epidemic of guys being dudes. At ballparks all across the US, groups consisting of mostly young men are joining in on the “Tarps Off” trend that is loud, goofy, infectious and new to the baseball world. Joining in on the fun is simple: Go to the section where the party is happening, take off your shirt and start twirling it above your head. Soccer-like chants or singing usually follow — injecting a jolt of energy for a sport that is occasionally chided for its lack of energy inside the stadium. After getting its start in St Louis, Missouri, on
Hull City AFC are to play Middlesbrough for a place in the Premier League after Southampton on Wednesday failed in their appeal against expulsion from the Championship playoff final for spying on opponents. Southampton were thrown out of the final on Tuesday and handed a four-point deduction for next season after they had beaten semi-final opponents Middlesbrough. “The original sanction of expulsion ... remains in place, as does the four-point deduction to be applied to the 2026/27 Championship table and the reprimand in respect of all charges,” the English Football League said in a statement. The final is to be played at Wembley
INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL: Officials, players and fans winging across all of North America are likely to make this the most polluting World Cup ever, say scientists The largest and likely most lucrative ever World Cup this summer could set a record for the most-polluting sporting event in history, environmental experts say. “Unlike the case of the Olympic Games, where the carbon footprints have been reducing over the last several editions, this is totally opposite in the case of FIFA men’s World Cup,” said David Gogishvili, a geographer at the University of Lausanne (Unil). The summer’s World Cup has been expanded to 48 teams for the first time. It is being played in three countries — Mexico, Canada and the US — for the first time. It is going to
RSS