Ana Ivanovic shocks Serena Williams at Australian Open
MELBOURNE. January 19. KAZINFORM Serena Williams is out of the Australian Open. Her grand slam ambitions, which seemed realistic only a couple of days ago - nailed on, in some estimations, although not her own - lay in tatters on Sunday at the feet of Ana Ivanovic, who had never won more than four games in a single set in their four previous meetings. It was the biggest upset of the tournament, by a distance.
Williams, the world No 1, had to be bullied, almost, into confirming later that she had considered pulling out of the match beforehand with a back injury that has been with her for at least a couple of days. She tried as valiantly to deflect questions about her fitness as she did to heap praise on Ivanovic, the 14th seed who did, indeed, play as well as she has done in a little while, the Guardian reports. Ivanovic recovered from a tentative but energetic start then flourished, irresistible at the end against her stricken foe, to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 and go through to the quarter-finals. Under persistent questioning, Williams conceded, "Yeah, I almost pulled out. I probably should have but I'm such a competitor. I guess the secret is out, but I obviously wasn't hitting the way I normally would hit and wasn't moving the way I normally would move. It wasn't the best." What was "it", exactly? "To be honest, I don't know. I have no idea." How long had she had it? "A few days. It's not anything that's life-threatening or anything. I feel like it will get better. I just need a couple days off." If Williams had defended that well on court, she might have won. "It was all Ana today," she insisted. "I thought she played really well. I made a tremendous amount of errors [31 unforced, against Ivanovic's 27], shots I missed I normally don't miss, that I haven't missed since the 80s." The Serb's victory was greeted with resignation on the other side of the net, and jubilation around the Rod Laver Arena. Perhaps it was because she did to Williams what their own heroine, Sam Stosur, had done in the final of the US Open in 2011 but had been lamentably unable to repeat ever since, leaving this tournament meekly. "The crowd often goes for the underdog," Williams said. And she was hitting a lot of winners. I don't think the crowd was against me. I think they wanted Ana to play well." Ivanovic said: "I just stayed in the moment physically. I didn't think much about the occasion and who I was playing, because it can get overwhelming. I could have just made a few more errors. But I really just believed in my game and stepped up when I needed to. I had to break a spell, fourth round, and what's the better place to do it than here against such a champion?" Ivanovic said she was unaware Williams had a back problem, but added, "I think she didn't serve as fast as in her previous matches. I really hope she can recover fast." Yet Williams hit a tournament high for her of 194kph [120mph], and averaged 171kph. For full version go to