Yes, in another stunning plot twist, the “former” world no. 1 was upset by Czechoslovakia’s Karokina Plisokova, 2-6, 6-7(5). Pliskova sent Venus Williams packing two rounsd before and, according to her, she took notes and used them to pull off what many thought was ultimate upset:
“I would say also the game is quite similar to Venus, so I knew it was gonna be a little bit about the same match what I played against Venus and same serving, same speed,” she said.
And their games may have been similar, but Serena Williams was definitely a few levels below her standard play. Her serve was way off and her movement was hampered by a possible leg injury – which she refused to elaborate on:
“I wasn’t able to move the way I wanted to move,” she said. “When you’re injured you’re thinking of other things when you should be just playing and thinking of your shots. My mind was just a little bit everywhere.”
But when asked what the injury is, she said:  “I don’t know yet. I’d rather not say.”
Whatever the injury or reason, Serena Williams left a couple of big cards on the table tonight. She gave up both her long-standing world number one ranking and she missed an opportunity to win her record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam. Both records being held by Steffi Graf, I guess it’s not too bad to stall at even with the legend, but she was so close to unseating her and silencing the few naysayers that are left. And it’s ironic that her top ranking was surrendered to another German, Angelique Kerber, who’s being mentored by Graf of late.
When asked about the no. 1 ranking, she said: “I don’t talk about that whatsoever.”
Fate is fate and when the cards fall a certain way, sometimes you must concede and take things as they are, but it pains us to see our beacon of excellence and determination, Serena Williams, begin to wilt before our eyes. It’s difficult to time exactly when to say when, when you’ve been on top for so many years, but the speculation will be rampant that that time is now.
Do we agree …? Not until she reaches the goal of 24.
It’s no chopped liver to reach at least the semis or better at Grand Slams at 35-years-old in the tennis world, but when you’re speaking of Serena Williams, debatably the greatest athlete ever, it’s just not enough.
She lost, but she did manage to pat herself on the back for one thing … her attitude:
I’m only really proud — you know, obviously I’m a perfectionist and I love to win. That’s when I feel my proudest. I think I had a pretty positive attitude mostly outside of maybe my second round. I think that I could walk away with that.
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