Serena falls at first hurdle as Cepelova wins
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WORLD No. 1 Serena Williams crashed out of the WTA Tour’s Family Circle Cup on Tuesday, losing her opening match in straight sets to world No. 78 Jana Cepelova.
The 20-year-old Slovakian Cepelova shocked defending champion Williams 6-4, 6-4 in a second-round match at the claycourt tournament in Charleston, South Carolina.
The 17-time grand slam winner Williams complained about being mentally fatigued after the 84-minute contest.
“I am really just dead,” said the 32-year-old American. “I need some weeks off where I don’t think about tennis and can kind of regroup. I’ve had a long couple of years.”
Williams, who won this event in 2013, 2012 and 2008, also had her 15-match tour win streak snapped.
Williams was fresh off winning her sixth Key Biscayne title and 59th singles crown after beating world No. 2 Li Na, of China, on the weekend.
“I actually made the turnaround really good,” Williams said. “Obviously things didn’t go great out there.”
Unseeded Cepelova, who appears to be headed for a breakout year, was facing Williams for the first time. Cepelova won 55 percent of her first serves and 71 of 136 total points.
She advances to face No. 13 Elena Vesnina of Russia, who beat another Slovakian, Anna Schmiedlova, 6-2, 6-1.
Williams, 32, blasted four aces but had three double faults. She won just 12 of 28 points on her second serve.
“I really knew nothing about her game going into the match,” Williams said. “She was a great counterpuncher. She played the best she can play.”
Ousting the world No. 1 came as a surprise even for Cepelova, who had never even beaten a top-15 player before.
Her previous biggest win was against former Charleston champion Samantha Stosur earlier this year in Doha, Qatar. Australian Stosur was ranked 16th in the world.
Her best tournament result was making the quarterfinals in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, earlier this year.
Cepelova, who will turn 21 next month, beat American wildcard Melanie Oudin 7-6 (2), 6-2 in the first round.
The other upset of day two of the event saw Teliana Pereira outlast eighth seeded Sorana Cirstea 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (0).
Eugenie Bouchard of Canada, seeded No. 6, dispatched qualifier Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia, 6-2, 6-0 while No. 7 seed Stosur eliminated Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 6-3, 5-7, 6-1.
Serena’s sister Venus was also a winner on Tuesday.
The 11th-seeded Venus held off Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-3, 0-6, 7-5 in 2 hours, 18 minutes. Venus hasn’t won this event in a decade.
Also, American Vania King beat Julia Glushko 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, Zhang Shuai of China outlasted Hsieh Su-wei of Chinese Taipei 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (0); and Peng Shuai of China defeated Caroline Garcia of France 6-2, 6-3.
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