Cornet in a Wimbledon wonderland as Serena suffers shock loss

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  • Top scalp: Alize Cornet had earlier defeated Serena in Dubai this year.

    Serena Williams could not find an explanation after she suffered her earliest Wimbledon defeat in nine years, falling in three sets to No25 seed Alize Cornet in the third round, but said she doubts the Frenchwoman will play this well in the next match.

    It was the world No1’s second defeat of the season to Cornet, having fallen to her in Dubai in February, and the first time Williams missed out on the second week at Wimbledon since she lost to Jill Craybas in the third round back in 2005

    This is the first time Williams has not made a major quarter-final in any of the first three slams of the season (when she’s played them) since her debut season in 1998.

    This year, she lost in the fourth round of the Australian Open to Ana Ivanovic, and the second round of the French to Garbine Muguruza.

    “I think everyone in general plays the match of their lives against me. So I’m pretty sure that the next match, it won’t be the same,” said Williams after the loss.

    Asked whether she can put her feelings into context, Williams said: “I don’t think I can. I thought I was playing pretty well. I worked really hard coming into this event.

    “It’s okay, though. Sometimes it happens. You work hard, maybe it’s not for today, maybe it’s for tomorrow. So I just got to keep going.”

    Cornet, who is now through to the fourth round of a major for just the second time in 34 appearances and the first time at the All England Club, was overjoyed.

    “I can’t believe this. Three yearsago I couldn’t even play on grass, I was so bad. This is just a dream and I have to realise it,” said Cornet, who next faces Eugenie Bouchard, a 6-3, 6-4 winner over Andrea Petkovic.
    Cornet broke in the opening game before rain suspended the match midway through the second.

    Upon their return, Williams raced to take the next six games and took a commanding one-set lead.

    The momentum shifted and it was Cornet who snatched the next five games. Williams got one of the breaks back but it wasn’t enough as the Frenchwoman served out the set on her second try, with a smooth serve-and-volley point.

    Williams survived a marathon opening game of the final set and the match remained on serve until Cornet edged ahead, breaking for a 3-2 lead on her fourth break point of the game with a crushing forehand passing shot.

    It started a run of four consecutive games for the No25 seed, who benefitted from a complete lack of game plan from Williams.

    On her part, Cornet was aggressive with her shots, moving Williams around and wrong-footing her. But when it came to serving for the match, Williams went completely silent and serious and broke for 3-5 to stay alive in the contest.

    But two games later, Cornet did not repeat the same mistake and she got three straight match points when Williams netted a volley. The 24-year-old hit a fearless drop shot and when Williams’ response landed in the net, Cornet dropped to the ground in disbelief, pulling off the biggest upset of her career.

    Rain wreaked havoc with the schedule and the match between Ana Ivanovic and last year’s runner- up Sabine Lisicki was suspended for bad light with the latter leading 6-4, 1-1.

    Maria Sharapova, who was on collision course for a highly-anticipated quarter-final with Williams, had a bad start on Centre Court before she rallied and won the last 11 games of the match to beat American Alison Riske 6-3, 6-0 and book a fourth round with No8 seed Angelique Kerber.

    SERENA'S LAST NINE EFFORTS AT WIMBLEDON

    2014 lost to Alize Cornet in the third round
    2013 lost to Sabine Lisicki in fourth round
    2012 beat Agnieszka Radwanska in final
    2011 lost to Marion Bartoli in fourth round 
    2010 beat Vera Zvonareva in final
    2009 beat Venus Williams in final
    2008 lost to Venus Williams in final
    2007 lost to Justine Henin in quarter-final
    2005 lost to Jill Craybas in thir round

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