Serena slumps to biggest defeat in 16 years
18-time grand slam champion crashes 6-0, 6-2 to Simona Halep in group match at WTA Finals in Singapore
Serena Williams won just two games on Wednesday as she crashed to her heaviest defeat in 16 years and raised concerns over a knee injury that could dash her hopes at the WTA Finals.
The 18-time grand slam champion was a shadow of her dominant best as she slumped 6-0, 6-2 to Romania’s Simona Halep, her biggest loss since she was 16 and without a tournament win to her name.
The seismic defeat ended a run of 16 straight victories at the year-ending tournament for the 2001, 2009, 2012 and last year champion, whose bid for a title hat-trick is now hanging in the balance.
My serve was at best in the 10-and-under division in juniors. Yeah, it was actually embarrassing I think describes the way I played
Elsewhere in the Red group round robin, Ana Ivanovic maintained her semi-final hopes with a 6-1, 6-3 win over an out-of-sorts Eugenie Bouchard.
“My forehand was off today again – I guess it went on an early vacation,” Williams said. “Lord knows my serve was as well.
“My serve was at best in the 10-and-under division in juniors,” she added. “Yeah, it was actually embarrassing I think describes the way I played. Yeah, very embarrassing.”
Given the high profile of the season finale in Singapore, it was a career low for the 33-year-old who had not been beaten so soundly since losing 6-1, 6-1 to Joannette Kruger in Oklahoma City in 1998.
She signalled that she was a long way from recovering from the left knee injury which forced her to withdraw from the China Open in Beijing earlier this month.
