Venus, Serena, Wozniacki out at Wimbledon

WIMBLEDON, England -- They were talking of what could be. But on the warm Monday when Serena and Venus Williams were ousted from Wimbledon within two hours of each other, the issue should have been what was.

They had been the prima donnas, in the positive context of the term, of the All England Lawn Tennis Championships. One or the other won the previous four years -- Serena in 2010 and 2009, Venus in 2008 and 2007 -- and nine of the last 11.

But the domination came to a halt as the second week of the 145th Wimbledon began. Marion Bartoli of France stopped an erratically hitting Serena, 6-3, 7-6 (6), in one fourth-round match and Tsvetana Pironkova defeating Venus, 6-2, 6-3, in another. That was the same score by which Pironkova beat Venus in a 2010 quarterfinal.

Were they upsets? Perhaps, although with the Williamses coming off long absences because of health problems, perhaps not. Were they surprises? Absolutely, as was 24th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova's 1-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5 win over top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, who despite her place on top of the WTA rankings never has won a Grand Slam event.

A minor surprise on the men's side was the 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-4 triumph by Mardy Fish over Tomas Berdych, one of last year's finalists. Fish, unexpectedly, ensured that the United States would not go without someone in either men's or women's quarterfinals for the first time since 2006 and only the second time since 1911.

Venus, 31, was sidelined by a strained hip flexor for five months before coming back two weeks ago. Serena was out nearly a year. She severely cut her right foot while stepping on glass a week after winning Wimbledon, was diagnosed with life-threatening pulmonary thrombosis and developed a hematoma that required surgery.

"Considering my condition," Serena said, "I think I really did well. I never came here thinking I would lose. I was able to hang in there, and I can only get better. And that potentially can be really scary, because I can only go up from here, and I can do so much more."

Venus described her play against the 5-10 Pironkova, who has defeated her three times in a row, as "inexplicable." Venus missed overheads, swinging volleys, "shots I never miss."

But Venus reminded that both Williams sisters "hit the ground running" because they didn't want to miss another Grand Slam tournament.

"At least I wasn't making errors trying to keep the ball in," Venus said. "I made errors that normally would go as winners. So those balls will land pretty soon . . . I got ready for this tournament so fast. You wouldn't believe how quick it happened. With more time, I can definitely play better.''

Serena, who will be 30 in September, tried to be philosophical. "Even if today I lost," she said, "I was able to kind of hang in there and play tough . . . I would have been sad being at home and watching it on TV, like I'm going to be soon."

Some believe it would have been sad for women's tennis if, with so little preparation, Serena or Venus had won the tournament. Could Serena appreciate that?

"Yeah," she said sarcastically. "I'm super-happy I lost. Go, women's tennis."

Nadal hurts foot in win

Defending champion Rafael Nadal overcame an aching left foot to reach the quarterfinals with a 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4 win over Juan Martin del Potro.

Nadal injured his foot late in the first set and called for the trainer before the start of the tiebreaker. "For a moment at the end of the first set, I thought that I had to retire," Nadal said. "I didn't know what's going on. After that, the pain goes a little bit down and finally I was ready to play." -- AP