Serena Williams lost?! Third round?!?

Question

Inthis year's 2008 French Open, just this morning, Serena fell 6-4 6-4 to Katarina Srebotnik in the third round. She has not done an interview about it.

Are you as surprised as me? Why?

Answer 1

Not surprised.

Anyone but Serena would jump at the chance to win lots of slams due to the retirement of Henin.

Not Serena.  She just doesn't care.

Way to not play Fed Cup in order to not prepare for the French, Serena.

Answer 2

Im a little surprised. But hey its tennis anything can happen. She didnt play her best tennis and her opponent deserved to win.

Answer 3

yes, its true she lost... another upset!

Answer 4

I'm not surprised at all.  Americans do have a history with being bad on clay.  In America, most people grow up with hard courts.  In Europe, many of the public courts are clay.  And the clay they do have is America sucks (the green stuff).  I've played on American and European clay, and the European stuff is so much nicer (played on it in Germany).

Also, the Americans tend be power hitters (Serena included).  That doesn't work on clay, cause it slows the game down.  Clay requires more planning and touch, which the American players seem to lack.

Answer 5

i am surprised but i like srebotnik i hope she does well. i am more suprised that venus lost to flavia penneta. ln a later interview venus said that she finds it hard to play after her sister loses. it is unfortuate for them.

Answer 6

I am very disappointed in Serena's performance. This is a match that she should've and could've won. I'm very surprised because the Serena I know goes down swinging. Especially against an agressive opponent like that.

She actually did do an interview http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/news/i... and very gracious too, I might add. I don't think her opponent played that well it was just a case of Serena playing extremely tight.

I sure hope she gets over whatever it is that's making her so nervous because she's one of very few lady players I enjoy watching.

I miss this Serena http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE4fo9W9Y... please come back! Please!

I think it's laughable when people suggest there was no competition in their prime. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE6aKcK_T... The Williams prime era was packed with competition, especially when compared to other eras, including this one.

Answer 7

no  the williams sisters have had their time.  They werent that good to begin with.  They won during a time of low competition.  They also tried to parlay their Tennis status into being movie stars.  They are done.

Answer 8

I'm a bit surprised she lost.  I'm not surprised at all that she has not done an interview.  She's always happy to talk about her victories, but when she loses, she either makes up stupid excuses that have nothing to do with her tennis skills or she refuses to speak to anyone regarding the loss.

Answer 9

oooooo no.....I really dont care

Answer 10

SERENA LOST?! omg, does anyone know is venus won her last match?

Answer 11

Yea well, thats Serena, she's unpredictable.One match she's playing amazing tennis, the next u donno where it went.

Not only Serena though, it seems a disturbingly usual thing in women's tennis.Sharapova barely won her 1st round match, Ivanovic looked like a miserable mirror of herself in Germany a few weeks ago..whats with Bartoli being knocked out by whats-her-face?..Mauresmo, well, that one is a choker(total waste of talent)..these are just a few examples of how messed up women's tennis is.

However i don agree with the guy above who said Williams sisters dominated at a time when there was no competition. Infact, i'd say there's no competition now.Only they are way past their prime,which is not unusual by the way.

Answer 12

Not surprised at all. Yesterday or day before I posted a board saying "Serena going down in 3rd round"? Just saw it coming. Her movement, lack of, was just way too evident, and having trouble with Srebotnik in the past, plus Katerina plays well and moves well on clay, just seen it coming. Only a "surprise" being many had her as a "favorite" being she was the lone champion in the field.

Answer 13

Disappointing-I watched it. She hit too many errors and Srebotnik was solid. Every so often this happens in a match with the Williams sisters.  Anyway Kuznetsova moving through without being noticed with all the other top players struggling-Watch her I think she will win. At the start of the Tournament I went for Jankovic or Kuznetsova.

Answer 14

I thought she was going to take it it this year. My support now goes to Ivanovic or Venus Williams !!!!!!!!

Answer 15

I'm a little surprised, but not shocked.  Srebotnik took her to 3 sets in Charleston last month, and she's a very tricky player because she has a lot of variety and can keep a player like Serena off balance when she's playing well.  That said, Serena blew a lot of easy overheads and volleys, and made way too many unforced errors overall.  Srebotnik also made a lot of amazing shots and really held her ground today.  Well done Katarina!

Answer 16

not suprising at all.  Americans suck on the clay.  always have.

she does have nice junk in the trunk though.

Answer 17

Yeah, I was kind of surprised, but Serena is a really streaky player.  When she's on, no one can beat her.  But when she's not, she can lose to people she probably she shouldn't lose to.  Credit should be given to Srebotnik--she played well and took advantage of Serena's mistakes.

Serena was my favorite to win, but I'm picking Ivanovic now.

Answer 18

Not surprised.  Serena doesn't do defensive too well and Srebotnik was mixing it up and attacking her the whole match.  I also think that unless Serena makes strategic changes to her game, we're going to see more and more players "upsetting" her.  She's getting older and will be losing power, while many players are finally following Hingis and Henin's lead in using strategy to get past the power players.

As for the interview, there's an article on WTA site that has both of their feedback about the match.  I'm actually impressed because I think this is the first time in years that Serena did not blame the loss on an injury or a fluke.  She actually complimented Srebotnik on her game.