Serena Williams' preparations for the French Open in disarray after suffering a straight-sets defeat to Czech Katerina Siniakova in the second round of the Emilia-Romagna Open in Parma; the former world No 1 has under two weeks preparation time until the start of Roland Garros
Wednesday 19 May 2021 07:01, UK
Serena Williams' French Open preparations suffered another blow after being sent crashing out of the Emilia-Romagna Open in Parma by Czech Katerina Siniakova.
The American, who added the tournament to her French Open preparations after accepting a wild-card invitation, was looking to get some much-needed competitive tennis under her belt following an early elimination in Rome last week.
She earned her first victory in more than three months after beating 17-year-old qualifier Lisa Pigato on Monday, but Williams went down to a disappointing 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 to Siniakova in her second-round match.
Williams had a set point at 5-4 in the opener but it was well saved by Siniakova, who then claimed the first break of serve only for the American to fight back.
But it was 68th-ranked Siniakova who was the more consistent in the tie-break, and the Czech won four games in a row to finish the contest to bag her sixth career top 10 win over the top seed.
"I feel amazing. It was a fantastic match," said 25-year-old Siniakova. "I played so good and I'm so happy that I could finish it like this.
"It was a pleasure to share the court with her. The title is still far, but I will be really hard and I will now have the pressure because I defeated such a great player but I enjoy it and I'm happy that I can still continue [the tournament]. I will try to play my best in the next match."
Third seed Coco Gauff let a 5-1 lead slip in the second set against Kaia Kanepi but recovered to win 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (9-7) and continue her good form on clay after reaching the semi-finals in Rome.
Second seed Petra Martic was a 6-4 6-2 winner over Varvara Gracheva while former French Open finalist Sara Errani beat Ana Bogdan 7-5 4-6 6-1.
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