World number one Serena Williams’s 27-match unbeaten run ended with a 6-2 6-3 defeat by Petra Kvitova in the Madrid Open semi-finals on Friday. Czech Kvitova will face Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final after she surprisingly knocked out defending champion Maria Sharapova
Williams, the world No1, had not lost since October but her mood appeared negative and she was slow around the court against the Czech, who broke the American’s first service game and never looked back.
The fourth seed broke serve three times in the first set and there was little resistance in the second set from a despondent Williams, who won the Madrid Open in 2012 and 2013. This was her first clay-court tournament of the season as she prepares for the French Open.
“I think she (Kvitova) just played well today,” Williams later told reporters when asked to assess the match. “She went for broke on every serve, every return. I hit some second serves, 170, 175, and she just hit them for winners.”
But while magnanimous towards her opponent, Williams was also critical of her own display. “I was very slow off the mark. After my serve I wasn’t moving as well as I should have. You know, I wasn’t in it.
“I wasn’t Serena today. I think that was the main thing.”
