Venus Williams suffers second-round blues
American loses to Germany's Kerber and fails to reach the third round for second straight year
Seven-time grand slam champion Venus Williams made her second consecutive US Open second-round exit as German sixth seed Angelique Kerber ousted the American 6-2, 5-7, 7-5.
The loss made this the first year in Williams' pro career, which began in 1997, that she has not gone past the second round in any grand slam tournament.
"Losing a match like this isn't a lot of fun, but that's sport," Williams said. "All I had was fight because I didn't play well."
Kerber, a 24-year-old left-hander who advanced to the semi-finals last month at Wimbledon and at last year's US Open, reached a third-round date with Olga Govortsova, of Belarus, who beat British qualifier Johanna Konta 2-6, 6-2, 7-5.
"It's unbelievable," Kerber said. "I had great memories from last year and the match was so tough and so close. Venus won so many grand slams and I'm so happy to beat her in New York. It's an amazing feeling to play here in a night session."
Kerber improved to 19-2 in three-set matches this year, helped by 16 double faults and 60 unforced errors from Williams.
"I was trying hard but I was making errors everywhere," Williams said. "I made 60 errors. It's hard to win a match like that."