A shell-shocked Venus Williams suffered her earliest Wimbledon exit in seven years on Thursday, crumbling in the second round to Croatia's Karolina Sprem.
Champion in 2000 and 2001 and runner-up to younger sister the last two years, Williams fell apart as shadows crept across Centre Court losing two tiebreak sets.
PHOTO: EPA
"It's not a whole barrel of laughs," she sighed. "But I guess it's not possible to be a winner or a finalist every year."
PHOTO: EPA
"I did my best. That's all, basically. No loss is fun ... at all."
In the men's draw, Roger Federer pulverized Alejandro Falla in just 54 breathtaking minutes to reach the third round at Wimbledon.
The Swiss top seed and champion allowed his Colombian opponent just 33 points in the entire match as he underlined his status as the man to beat with a 6-1 6-2 6-0 win.
"I had to play well today to beat him because he wasn't a player who was just going to give it to me," Federer said.
"Okay, the score is very easy, but he was playing well and I had to come up with some really good shots in the beginning to make the difference.
"After that, I really had a good start to every set, which was important. I was very consistent today. It was good."
Those considered best equipped to stop him also advanced but were no way near as impressive.
Second seed Andy Roddick reached the second round on Centre Court, beating Taiwan's Wang Yeu-tzuoo 6-3 7-5 6-4 and seventh seed and 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt beat Georgia's Irakli Labadze 6-4 6-4 6-1 to reach the third.
Hewitt will next play the man whose title he inherited, Goran Ivanisevic, after the Croatian pulled off a spectacular 4-6 7-6 1-6 6-3 6-4 comeback victory over Italy's Filippo Volandri.
"You don't want to lose on court two against Volandri," the 2001 champion said. "He played well but my shoulder was stiff and my serve wasn't working.
"I'm going to have to serve well tomorrow and volley very well. I'm going to be under pressure all the time. He's the favorite for sure but with me you never know. When I have my day, then I can be dangerous."
Third seed Guillermo Coria needed only 97 seconds to reach the second round as the rain which washed out day three mostly stayed away.
The Argentine needed just two points for victory in his match with Wesley Moodie which had been carried over since Monday.
He won them both to advance 6-4 6-7 6-3 6-7 6-3 in a match which Wimbledon officials believe is the first to span four days.
Shanking groundstrokes both long and wide, third-seeded Venus was never able to get a foothold in the match as it ran away from her in 102 agonizing minutes.
Sprem, ranked 30th in the world, could hardly miss as the increasingly-frustrated American lurched from one crisis to another.
The Croatian faltered while serving for the match at 5-3 and allowed Venus back into the contest.
Williams held two set points in the second tiebreak but double faulted on the first and netted a simple forehand on her second.
Sprem converted on her first match point when Venus looped a loose forehand long.
"Today I just wanted to play my tennis... play at 100 percent and that's all," Sprem said. "I was just doing all I can."
The loss was Venus's earliest in any grand slam since the French Open in 2001 when she lost in the first round.
She has now not reached the semifinals of a grand slam since this time last year.
Second seed Anastasia Myskina diced with disaster before finally overcoming Hungarian Aniko Kapros 5-7 6-2 6-4.
The French Open champion took a while to settle on court two before finding her range.
Next door on court three Argentine Gisela Dulko once again cut short 47-year-old Martina Navratilova's remarkable renaissance with a 3-6 6-3 6-3 second-round victory over the nine-times former champion.
Dulko beat Navratilova easily in the first round of the French Open last month.
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