Wimbledon 2011: Williams sisters are bundled out in straight sets

Published on Monday 27 June 2011 20:25

THE Williams sisters last night faced suggestions their domination of women's tennis was drawing to a close after they both tumbled out of Wimbledon.

The siblings endured straight-sets defeats, Serena losing to Marion Bartoli shortly before Venus was demolished by Tsvetana Pironkova. It will be the first time since 2006 that neither has won Wimbledon and only the third final in 11 years that will see a different name etched on to the All England Club trophy.

Injury and illness have severely restricted both players over the past 12 months - Serena was out of action for 49 weeks until Eastbourne - and their very presence at Wimbledon has been seen as a victory of sorts.

But doubts remain over whether their decade-long reign, which has seen them win two of the four grand slam events for all but two of the years between 2000-10, is over.

Less than four months ago, Serena underwent surgery to remove blood clots from her lungs and the 29-year-old vowed to return stronger from yesterday's setback. "I don't know what I would say to those who asked if this is the end of an era. I'm still here. I plan on doing better," she said. "Absolutely this fires me up for the next year. Next year I'll have less things to worry about. I didn't do so well this year, so I have no points to defend. It will just be good."

The last time the pair tumbled out of a tournament on the same day was the 2008 French Open, leaving Venus to lament a disappointing afternoon.

"This was definitely not our best day. We both envisioned seeing this day going a little bit differently," she said. "We both want each other to win but unfortunately we weren't able to. We rarely lose on the same day. No-one gives it to you. It's very competitive nowadays. If you don't come out serving and running and hitting the ball in the court, which is quite important, then you're not going to win the match."

Anyone involved in women's tennis must feel relieved that two players who have been out for so long were unable to progress far at Wimbledon, even if that duo have the name Williams.

Serena, however, drew little consolation from the knowledge their defeat was good for the game. "Yeah, I'm super happy that I lost. Go, women's tennis," she said.

Serena went down fighting to Bartoli, the superb ninth seed from France saving four match points before succumbing 6-3 7-6 (8/6) in a fiercely contested tie-break.

"Considering the condition I was in, considering a lot of things, I feel I did well here," said Serena. "I obviously would have loved to have done better, but I think I did pretty well."My mentality was to do the best I could and continue that. I tried to do well but Marion played really well.

"I feel like I can do a lot better. It would really suck if I was here thinking I'd played my best and that was all I could do. I can only get better and that can potentially be really scary, because I can only go up from here.

"I felt like I missed a tremendous amount of shots out, which is better than into the net. Sooner or later they will go in."

Bartoli made the Wimbledon final in 2007, losing to Venus, and looked strong in her efforts to go one better. Serena had 20 unforced errors to go with 29 winners, and managed to convert only one of five break points, while Bartoli served ten aces, two more than Williams, and kept down her errors to 17.

It was the first time Bartoli has beaten the American after straight-set defeats in their previous two matches. "Beating Serena is almost like a dream come true," Bartoli said.

"Even though she didn't play for almost one year, she's probably one of the greatest champions in women's tennis. For me to be able come back after having three match points and losing this game at 6-5, and still be able to bounce back, it's really huge."

Five-time champion Venus offered less resistance to the highly competitive Pironkova, the 32nd seed from Bulgaria. Playing only her second tournament since withdrawing from the Australian Open with a hip injury, she was well short of her best as she struggled to find her range.

The 31-year-old denied Serena's match had any impact on her own performance and explained their haste in returning for Wimbledon.

"I tried not to watch Serena's match. It's a little distracting, as you can imagine," she said.

"My loss today is my own doing, but I feel positive because I'm still playing great tennis and my game's just going better and better, obviously except for this round.

"I'm looking forward to the summer. Serena and I definitely both hit the ground running, coming back as fast as we could. We didn't want to miss another major."

Pironkova, who lost in the semi-finals here last year to eventual runner-up Vera Zvonareva, played steady tennis against Venus and never cracked.

"I beat her two times, two consecutive years - it feels amazing to play such a champion on this legendary court," the Bulgarian said after holding serve and stroking a backhand winner down the line on her second match point. "When I come here I just feel so relaxed."