PARIS – Venus Williams was eliminated from the French Open on Friday, losing in the third round of the clay-court major for the third straight year.
Third-seeded Williams, who reached the 2002 final at Roland Garros, lost to No. 29 Agnes Szavay of Hungary, 6-0, 6-4. It was only the 14th time in 662 career matches that Williams lost a set at love.
“I’m used to beating people 6-0,” Williams said. “I’m not used to my shot not going in and losing a set 6-0. So it completely was foreign ground for me.”
The seven-time Grand Slam champion was playing for the third straight day. She’d needed three-setters to win her first and second rounds, and saved a match point against Lucie Safarova on Thursday.
“I had a lot of struggles out there, and ultimately you’ve got to play well,” Williams said. “Today it just didn’t come together for me.”
Maria Sharapova and her injured right shoulder managed to earn yet another three-set win. The unseeded Russian lost the first set but rebounded to beat Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, and advance to the fourth round. (AP)