Serena Williams’ bid for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title suffered a crushing blow when she was knocked out in the third round of the Australian Open by China’s Wang Qiang on Friday.
This was perhaps the worst loss of Serena’s Grand Slam career since her return from maternity break in 2018, next to a third-round upset in straight sets against Sofia Kenin at French Open last year. At Melbourne, she showed signs of her fighting spirit when the 38-year-old fought back from a set down and Wang serving for the match in the second set to force a decider. But she was unable to prevent a stinging defeat to a player who had won just one game the last time the two played.
The 38-year-old was the bookies’ favourite to win a record-equalling 24th Major at Melbourne Park but she came unstuck against a determined Wang, who won 6-4, 6/7 (2/7), 7-5.
The upset means Williams, whose last Major win was at the 2017 Australian Open when she was pregnant, has fallen short at eight Grand Slams – including four finals – since having her baby.
Here’s a look at American great’s failed attempts at history since the 2017 Australian Open triumph. Incidentally, all of her losses have been strange stumbles, going against her own momentum and the record she had against the opponents.
French Open 2018
This was her first Major since her return to competitive tennis. She played a good couple of matches and even registered a win over 2019 champion Ashleigh Barty. But she pulled out of her fourth-round clash with Maria Sharapova with a pectoral injury in her first Slam since having a baby.
Wimbledon 2018
She breezed through the field to reach her first final since return but played an uncharacteristically error-strewn match to go down to Angelique Kerber, 6-3, 6-3. It was the German’s maiden Wimbledon title and third Grand Slam crown.
US Open 2018
She reached her second straight Major final with another strong display but it was yet another one-sided final as she went down 6-2, 6-4 to Japan’s Naomi Osaka in a controversial and emotional summit clash that left both players in tears.
Australian Open 2019
In what turned out to be a strange match, Williams squandered four match points and a 5-1 third-set lead against Karolina Pliskova to crash out in the quarter-finals 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. She had hurt her ankle and was called for a foot fault when she was serving one of the match points, which seemed to have disrupted her rhythm.
French Open 2019
She was knocked out in the in the third round 6-2, 7-5 by unseeded American Sofia Kenin. It was Serena’s worst Grand Slam exit since Wimbledon in 2014, when she fell at the same hurdle.
Wimbledon 2019
She reached her second straight Wimbledon final and it turned out to be a repeat of 2018 as she was crushed 6-2, 6-2 in just 56 minutes in the final by Simona Halep, who also won her first Wimbledon in perhaps the Romanian’s finest performance.
US Open 2019
Another Grand Slam final, another loss. This time Serena was beaten by teenager and 15th seed Bianca Andreescu 6-3, 7-5 in a rollercoaster final in a performance she called “inexcusable”. Like this Australian Open match, she showed her fighting chops in New York as well but was let down on the big points.
Here’s a look at how Tennis Twitter reacted to her loss
With AFP Inputs
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