London, June 30: Venus Williams insists she has no intention of turning her back on tennis after the American’s shock defeat to Tsvetana Pironkova at Wimbledon raised questions about her appetite for the sport.
Venus failed to make the final at the All England Club for the first time since 2006 as Pironkova, an unseeded Bulgarian ranked 82nd in the world, stormed to a remarkable 6-2, 6-3 victory over the five-time champion.
Losing to a player who had never been past the second round of a Grand Slam before this year’s Wimbledon was bad enough, but the lacklustre manner of Venus’s defeat was even more concerning.
Usually so dominant on grass, the second seed made too made careless errors and allowed Pironkova, who only played on this surface for the first time five years ago, to move her around the court far too easily.
–PTI