Tennis

Serena Williams upset; American vanquisher says 'I think she's surprised by how bad I am'

Published Jan. 4, 2017 12:36 p.m. ET

Chris Chase

(Getty Images)

Serena Williams lost 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-4 to world No. 72 Madison Brengle in the ASB Tennis Classic in Auckland, a loss she described as "obscene" and gives her little match preparation for the Australian Open, the year's first Grand Slam that begins in less than two weeks.

Though Serena hit 88 unforced errors ("too much, just way too many," she said) and struggled to return in the swirling wind ("I've never returned like that in my life [...] I really abhorred the conditions), Brengle had another theory for why she was able to hang with the 22-time Grand Slam champion:

https://www.facebook.com/WTA/videos/10155576099156102/

"I think she's surprised by how bad I am."

2012: Quit tuneup after two wins (Brisbane), lost Australian Open fourth round

2011: DNP

2010: Lost tuneup (Sydney final), won Australian Open

2009: Lost tineup (Sydney final), won Australian Open

2008: No tuneup, lost Australian Open quarterfinal

By these results, winning her tuneup has been the worst thing for Serena. If you wanted to read too much into it, you could say it's maybe because she was putting in so much court time early in the season that she lost energy two weeks later. That seems suspect though. More likely than not, winning the tuneup and losing early were total coincidences.

That won't be a problem she'll need to solve this time. The Australian Open begins in 12 days and, as usual, Serena Williams will enter as the favorite, even though the defending champion, Angelique Kerber, is also the world No. 1. But the defeat to Brengle might have given Serena a key to getting back to the winner's circle after losing four of her last five Grand Slam starts: Never underestimate how bad your opponent might be.

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