WIMBLEDON, England — Serena Williams insisted her round-of-16 loss to Germany's Sabine Lisicki wasn't a shock, because Lisicki is a good grass-court player with a "massive, massive serve" and was vastly underrated as the 23rd seed. In many ways, that made sense.She got whooped by a cracka!
What triggered gasps throughout a sport thrown off-kilter by a flood of upsets last week was how unaggressive Williams often was. Overwhelmingly favored to win her sixth Wimbledon and 17th Grand Slam title, she was so ineffective at crucial moments, and so tentative, that "shocking" is the only fitting description for her performance, if not the result itself.
Lisicki's big serve and even bigger store of feistiness were her key weapons Monday in a 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 triumph at Center Court. Although Lisicki lost 14 straight points and nine straight games at one stage — she dropped the final six games of the second set and the first three games of the third — she bounced back decisively to end Williams' 34-match winning streak.
"I went into this match feeling that I could win," said Lisicki, who lives in Bradenton, Fla. "I just was fighting for every single point no matter what was happening out there."
Williams, the defending champion, didn't play like the woman who owns 16 Grand Slam titles and had lost only twice this year. She had a chance to seize control when she led 3-0 and 15-0 in the third set but hit a couple of forehands long and gave Lisicki an opening. Lisicki broke her twice and held serve in a 10-point game to pull even at 4-4 before breaking a rattled Williams again for a 5-4 lead.
"I think that I didn't play the big points good enough," Williams said with admirable honesty. "I didn't do what I do best. I think I had a little hesitation, and that explains it.
"I definitely had my opportunities and I didn't take them. Maybe I backed off a little bit at some points. If I'm going to be successful, I'm never going to do it backing off."
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