World number one Serena Williams was defeated by Petra Kvitova in the Madrid Open semi-finals on Friday.
Petra Kvitova, a Czech professional tennis player known for her powerful left-handed shot and dexterity, will face Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final after she surprisingly defeated champion Maria Sharapova.
"I have never beaten her before on court and so it is a special moment for me," Kvitova said.
She admitted it will be a tough game now against Kuznetsova, who beat her last year on clay, according to reports on The Guardian.
Serena Williams had not lost a match all year until she met Petra Kvitova at the Madrid Open on Friday, May 8.
Williams' mood appeared negative as she was slow around the court against fourth seed Kvitova, who broke her first service game and never looked back.
In a news conference, Serena William accepted that she was just exhausted as it has been a rough week for her. Williams said it is good for her to be really exhausted as she's going into another tournament and then getting ready for Roland Garros.
"So this is all great preparation that I actually really, really needed, something to push me to the wall and to the limit," Williams said.
In the first set, Kvitova broke serve three times and in the second set, there was little fight from Williams who appeared to be low-spirited.
No doubt, it was a huge blow for Williams who won in Madrid in 2012 and 2013. Moreover, this was her first claycourt tournament of the season as she prepares for the French Open looking to win her 20th grand slam title, Yahoo Sport noted.
Maria Sharapova was also eliminated, losing 6-2, 6-4, to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the first semifinal of the clay-court tournament. She looked strained from the start against her fellow Russian. Sharapova came to the tournament in poor form and strived to get through her previous two matches in the Spanish capital with Carline Garcia and Caroline Wozniacki taking her to three sets.
The Russian did not succeed in converting a break point at 2-1 in the second set and lost her serve in the following game. She tried hard to win her service games but was beaten 6-4.
A former grand slam winner at the US Open and Roland Garros, Kuznetsova currently ranks 29th in the world.
