San Jose (the US): Venus Williams suffered an upset 4-6, 6-7(2-7) defeat at the hands of Greece’s Maria Sakkari here Friday in the quarterfinal of the Silicon Valley Classic tennis tournament.
The 38-year-old Venus held a 3-0 lead in the opening set and was up 5-3 in the second but could not hold off a relentless opponent 15 years her junior. Venus has not advanced past the third round of a tournament since March and is yet to find the form that helped her reach two Grand Slam finals in 2017.
World No. 49 Sakkari has moved through her first three matches without dropping a set. She needed 103 minutes to beat Serena, and saved two set points in the second set in the process.
Sakkari will now face American Danielle Collins who moved into the semis after former World No.1 Victoria Azarenka retired injured when trailing 3-0 in the second set after claiming the first in a tie-breaker. It will be the second semifinal of the year for Collins.
Johanna Konta was also sent packing after a 7-6(7-4), 6-3 quarterfinal loss to fourth seed Elise Mertens. The Briton had opened the tournament with a bang Tuesday when she shocked 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams 6-1, 6-0, the worst loss of the American great’s career.
Konta was unable to recreate the magic, however, instead squandering a 5-2 lead in the opening set against the Belgian before bowing out meekly.
