The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Nadia Petrova stuns Serena Williams

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 11, 2004

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Nadia Petrova stuns Serena Williams

AMELIA ISLAND (FLORIDA), APRIL 10. When her surgically repaired left knee deserted her, Serena Williams tried to win on grit, it wasn't enough. Second-seeded Williams made 42 unforced errors on Friday and lost for the first time since June, dropping a quarterfinals match in the Bausch & Lomb Championships to Russian Nadia Petrova.

Williams lost 6-2, 6-3 in 77 minutes, ending her eight-match winning streak to begin her comeback from an eight-month injury layoff.

"I blew out one of my wheels today," Williams said. "I was only working with three out of four, so to speak."

After the first game of the second set, Williams called for a trainer, who put a bandage on her knee.

Williams said she felt some pain while warming up, but tried to ignore it.

"When I was down 3-1 (in the first set), I knew," she said.

Play continued after Williams was treated, but she slipped and fell after losing the first two points of the next game. From that point, Williams' mobility was curtailed.

She could not get to several of the seventh-seeded Petrova's shots, and by the end of the match her serves dipped into the 113kph range. But she did not retire, fighting through double match point to send the set to 5-3 before falling in the next game.

"I'm not a quitter," Williams said. "I'm a fighter. I never like to give up."

The results:

At Amelia Island (Bausch & Lomb women's championships): Quarterfinals: Amelie Mauresmo bt Silvia Farina Elia 6-4, 6-3; Justine Henin-Hardenne bt Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 6-3; Lindsay Davenport bt Paola Suarez 6-4, 6-1; Nadia Petrova bt Serena Williams 6-2, 6-3. Third round: Lindsay Davenport bt Alicia Molik 6-4, 7-5.

At Casablanca (Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem women's tournament): Quarterfinals: Emilie Loit bt Marta Marrero 7-5, 6-4; Ludmila Cervanova bt Marta Domachowska 7-5, 6-2; Rita Grande bt Lubomira Kurhajcova 6-3, 1-6, 6-0; Klara Koukalova bt Maria Elena Camerin 6-3, 6-2. — AP

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