Serena Williams: I don’t have time to be shocked about record loss

WTA Tour
Serena Williams waving

Serena Williams refused to get too downcast about her worst-career defeat.

British No 1 Johanna Konta handed Williams the heaviest loss of her professional career in the first round of the Silicon Valley Classic on Tuesday, winning 6-1, 6-0 in 53 minutes.

It was the first time that Williams won only one game during a match on the WTA Tour with her previous worst defeats a couple of 6-1, 6-1 losses during the early years of career.

The 23-time Grand Slam winner, though, refuses to dwell on the defeat.

“I’m taking everything a day at a time,” she said. “I think she played better in this match than she did in about 18 months, so I think that’s a good thing for her. I know I can play a zillion times better, so that kind of helps out too.

“I have so many things on my mind, I don’t have time to be shocked about a loss. I clearly wasn’t at my best. I can only try to be there. When I was out there, I was fighting. I wasn’t just giving it away. I was moving a lot better – I’m just trying to take the positives.”

Williams won the opening game of the match, but then Konta won the next 12.

“I think she played well in the second set,” the American said. “I think I wasn’t sharp at all in the first set, and I think she got confident, and she clearly ran away with it.”

Serena Williams

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