Serena Williams had been eliminated from the tournament for less than 20 minutes when she climbed into her white Mini Cooper with the checkerboard top and pulled out of the players’ parking lot, fastening her seat belt as she drove.
A hasty departure, for sure. Williams’ 20-match winning streak at Key Biscayne ended on Monday with a 6-3 (3-7), 6-1, 6-2 loss to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth round of the Miami Open.
This is the first time she hasn’t reached the Key Biscayne quarterfinals since 2000, when she lost in the fourth round to Jennifer Capriati. Williams, 34, hasn’t won a tournament since earning her 69th title at Cincinnati in August.
“I did the best I could,” she said during a postmatch news conference that lasted less than three minutes before she cut it off.
“I can’t win every match. These players come out and play me like they’ve never played before in their lives. I have to be 300 per cent every day, she added.
Williams said the muggy 85-degree weather didn’t faze her. “Physically I’m fine. I don’t know, I guess I didn’t move today. Maybe that was one of the things that didn’t work out for me,” she said.
