Serena Williams’ disappointing return to the San Francisco Bay region ended in less than an hour as she fell in her first game of the San Jose Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic 6-1, 6-0 to Johanna Konta, in defeat. most unequal of his illustrious career.
It all ended after 52 minutes with a Williams right to the net. The 23-time Grand Slam title winner walked off the track to salute the crowd, which she hopes will return next year for a longer competition.
Williams had never finished with a single game won in a game before, but on Tuesday he was only able to score one with his serve in the opening game. Her worst loss to date was a 6-0, 6-2 loss to Simona Halep in the 2014 WTA end-of-season tournament in Singapore.
“I know he can play a thousand times better, so that’s comforting,” Williams said. “Right now I have a lot on my mind so I don’t have time to be traumatized by a loss when it is evident that I am not in my best shape. I fought when I was on the track. It’s the only thing I can say, not that I gave it away (the game), and I was able to move better. So I try to get something positive out of it. “
Williams barely looked like her on a cold summer afternoon: she double-faulted, slammed shots at the net, missed wrecks and was not accurate on her balls from the back of the court.
Konta, who won her first WTA title two years ago at Stanford, seized the opportunity and gave Williams no chance to get back into the game.
“I think he played well in the second set,” said Williams. “I was not fine in the first set and I think he took confidence and pushed with everything.”
Williams, the sixth seed of the tournament, has been champion in the region three times. This was the 36-year-old Serena’s fifth tournament since giving birth to daughter Alexis Olympia last September and the first since losing in straight sets to Angelique Kerber at Wimbledon. AP