23-time Tennis Grand Slam champion, Serena Williams, suffered her worst career defeat hours ago at the hands of her opponent, the British number one, Johanna Konta in the first round of the Silicon Valley Classic.
It took Johanna Konta less than an hour to humiliate the 36-year old mother of one in a 6-1 6-0 win in a first-round victory at the tournament ongoing in San Jose.
Prior to this time, and after over 23 active years on the tennis court after turning professional in 1995, Serena Williams had never lost a match without, at least, winning two games.
The former world number one, who only returned to the tour following the birth of her daughter made almost thrice as much unforced errors as her opponent in the match.
In a statement following her defeat, Serena Williams said of her opponent, Johanna Konta, "I think she played well in the second set and I think I wasn't sharp at all in the first set and she got confident and she clearly ran away with it."
The British number one in her own post-match interview with BBC Sport said, "I tried to put aside the incredible champion she is and just play the player of the day. She obviously wasn't playing at her best level, nowhere near it, and I really just tried to play the match on my terms. I felt I did better than her on the day but it's still a humbling experience to be out here with her."
The 27-year old Johanna Konta, currently the world number 48, will now play another American, in the person of the teenager, Sofia Kenin, in the second round of the Silicon Valley Classic.
Konta’s compatriot, Heather Watson, also won her first-round match 6-4 3-6 6-4 against another American, Claire Liu.
Ironically, Watson will face-off against the other Williams sister, Venus Williams in the second round.
At the present age of 36-years, can Serena Williams still get back to the top of the women's tennis ranking and become the force she once was?
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