Add Serena Williams to the list of big names eliminated early at this unpredictable Wimbledon.
The defending champion and five-time Wimbledon winner failed to close out a see-saw third set Monday, dropping the last four games against Sabine lisicki of Germany to lose 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 in the fourth round and end her career-best 34-match winning streak.
It was the latest in a string of upsets that has jolted the tournament, with defending champion Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal knocked out in the first three days — along with Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka on the women’s side.
“I probably couldn’t be more disappointed,” Williams said. “I think I may have backed off of a success. I was playing something successful. I didn’t continue that path. The result didn’t go the way it could have gone had I continued to play the way I did in the second set.”
Williams looked to be cruising after dropping the first set, winning nine straight games to take a 3-0 lead in the third. The players then traded breaks to give Williams a 4-2 lead, but the American couldn’t win another game — despite having four break points at 4-3.
Those would have given her a chance to serve for the match. Instead, lisicki held, broke again, and converted her second match point with a forehand winner.
“I’m still shaking,” an emotional lisicki said in a post-match interview, covering her face with her hands to wipe away tears. “I’m just so happy.”
Williams said it was her serve — usually her main weapon — that let her down in the third set.
“I felt that I was on the verge of winning,” she said. “At that point I just was physically unable to hold serve. ... You have to be ready and willing to hold your serve. I wasn’t willing or able, probably didn’t even want to hold my serve today.”
lisicki reached the semifinals at the All England Club in 2011 but this will rank as arguably her biggest victory at the grass-court Grand Slam. It was also the fourth straight time lisicki has eliminated the reigning French Open champion during her Wimbledon run, having missed the tournament in 2010.
Britain’s laura Robson also lost. She couldn’t recover from her missed chances in the first set and fell 7-6 (5), 7-5 to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia, failing to become the first British woman in the quarters of any Grand Slam since 1984.
Robson, the first British woman to reach the second week at Wimbledon since 1998, served for the first set at 5-4 but was broken, then led 5-2 in the tiebreaker. She double-faulted at 5-4, with neither serve coming close to going in — the first one went about five feet long, and the second bounced into the net.
Instead of a marquee Williams vs. Robson matchup, Kanepi will now face lisicki in the quarterfinals.
Former champion Petra Kvitova and No. 4 David Ferrer both avoided upsets to advance, as did sixth-seeded li Na of China. Despite Williams’ loss, there’s still an American woman in the quarters after Sloane Stephens beat 19-year-old Monica Puig of Puerto Rico 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.
On a busy day at Wimbledon, Kvitova was the first player to reach the last eight, beating Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain 7-6 (5), 6-3 on Monday. She will play Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium, who reached her first career Grand Slam quarterfinal by ousting Flavia Pennetta of Italy 7-6 (2), 6-3 — a year after her ranking plummeted as low as 262nd because of injuries.
Poland will send two men into the quarterfinals for the first time after 24th-seeded Jerzy Janowicz and 130th-ranked lukasz Kubot each won five-set matches.
Murray, del Potro in quarters
Reigning US Open champion Andy Murray reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the sixth consecutive year, beating 20th-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-1 Monday.
Murray found himself in trouble in the second set, trailing 5-2. But he broke when Youzhny served for the set at 5-4. Down 5-3 in tiebreaker, he took the set’s last four points.
In another match, playing with his left knee heavily taped following a scary fall in the previous round, Juan Martin del Potro didn’t let it slow him down as he beat Andreas Seppi 6-4, 7-6 (2), 6-3 to reach the quarters. Del Potro twisted his left ankle and hyper-extended his knee during the third set of his win over Grega Zemlja on Saturday and has been icing the knee constantly since.
The Argentine converted only two of his 11 break points and needed four match points to close out Seppi. He will face fourth-seeded David Ferrer in the quarters.