Serena Williams tastes defeat in her 1000th match, Naomi Osaka, Simona Halep bow out too
Naomi Osaka, Simona Halep and Serena Williams
It was a day of upsets at Rome as Serena Williams‘ 1000th tour match ended in defeat. She marked her return to action with a 7-6 (6), 7-5 loss to Nadia Podoroska in the second round.
This was Williams’ first match since playing the Australian Open in February. She was stuck with the free flowing movement on Clay but was brave enough to go for big winners.
After the match, Williams said: “It’s tough to have a first match on clay. It was definitely kind of good to go the distance and to try to be out there, but clearly I can do legions better.”
Poor run continues for Osaka, Halep retires
Earlier in the day, second seed Naomi Osaka was also knocked out of the second round. She was gunning for her first title on Clay, but lost to 31st ranked Jessica Pegula in straight sets 6-7(2),2-6. Osaka was playing just her third tournament since winning the Australian Open in February and also exited in the second round in Madrid earlier this month.
Bad fortune continued for former French Open champion Simona Halep as she was forced to retire from the second round at Rome due to a calf injury. Halep was leading 6-1 3-3 when she showed discomfort while trying to reach a first serve from her German opponent.
The Romanian had just recovered from another injury and made a come back at Madrid, but was knocked out in Round of 16 by Elise Mertens.
She said: “I’m so disappointed to end my tournament in Rome like this but I will do everything I can to take care of the injury and be back as soon as possible.”
Williams sisters to play in Parma next week
Both Osaka and Williams will want to regain some form ahead of the French Open. Osaka has been terrible on Clay this season and has won just one match. As for the American, she will bid for her 24th Major in Paris and will want to have some match practice under her belt.
Serena Williams and Venus Williams will both be seen in action next week after receiving wild cards at the Emilia-Romagna Open at Parma. The tournament will be a WTA 250 event and will start from May 16.
“Maybe I do need a few more matches, so I’m going to try to figure that out with my coach and my team and see what we would like to do. … I have been training for months, but it feels definitely different on clay to make that last adjustment,” Serena said post her match at Rome.
It will be interesting to see how the veteran sisters will do in Parma given their lack of match practice.
Also read: French Open 2008: The day Rafael Nadal became the ‘King of Clay’
Lakshya Chopra
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