Serena Williams was stunned by the world No. 116 Shelby Rogers as she crashed out of the Top Seed Open in Lexington.
Williams, the 23-time Grand Slam champion, was the heavy favourite to advance to the semi-finals and appeared to be on course for the next round when she cruised through the first set.
But she failed to break Rogers, 27, in the following two sets as she tumbled out 1-6 6-4 7-6 (7-5).
‘I have only good things to take [from the match],’ Williams said in a brief post-match press conference. ‘I could play a lot better, that’s the most thing that I can take. It’s good to know I can play a lot, lot, lot better.
‘I had an opportunity to possibly win in straight sets but I kind of made it difficult for myself by making a plethora of unforced errors.
‘It was definitely difficult to get a read on it [Rogers’ serve] in the third set, these courts are just jumping incredibly high, higher than normal. She took good advantage of that.’
It was the third top-10 win of Rogers’ career and few will have tasted sweeter than her first meeting with an all-time great.
‘It was important for me going onto the court thinking I could win that match, and knowing I could take care of my service games,’ Rogers said.
‘Because [Williams] has probably the best serve of all time, and when she wants to, she can win a point on her serve.
‘I just tried to control what I could control, and that’s mostly my service games, and then if I had an opportunity, I tried to capitalise. I think the few that I did have today, I was able to do that.’
While Williams – who will now head to New York to gear up for the US Open later this month – threw away a lead, Coco Gauff showed her remarkable fighting spirit once more in another impressive fight back.
Down 6-4 4-2 against Tunisian eighth seed Ons Jabeur, Gauff, 16, suddenly fought back in rousing fashion to win 4-6 6-4 6-1 in an hour and 58 minutes and reach the second WTA semi-final of her career..
‘I’m always going to fight, no matter what, and try my best, no matter the score,’ Gauff said after the match.
‘The biggest thing was mentality. Even though I wasn’t playing the way I would’ve liked, I think staying strong and positive definitely kept me in the match today.
‘The more matches I have, the more experience I get. The more different types of playing styles that I get to play against, the more I’ll get used to that kind of style and how to approach the match.
‘I would say I’ve exceeded my expectations, not so much the result but playing-wise. Getting as many matches as I can is the goal right now… I like playing under pressure and pressure is a privilege.
‘I just enjoy it, and the tough matches are what make tennis fun, so I try my best to just rise to the occasion.’
Gauff will take on Jennifer Brady after her resounding 6-1 6-2 win over Marie Bouzkova.
Williams’ conqueror Rogers faces Jill Teichmann in the other semi-final.
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