Venus Williams Loses In Wimbledon First Round

Venus Williams has won five Wimbledon championships over her impressive and often dominate career but you wouldn’t know it on Monday after she fell to Elena Vesnina in straight sets.

The Russian took down Williams 6-1, 6-3, handing Williams a first round elimination for the first time since 1997.

Williams has not played well in Grand Slam tournaments in 2012, she also competed in this years French Open and lost in the second round. The French Open was Williams’ first Grand Slam tournament since Aug. 29, 2011 when she pulled out of the U.S. Open in the second round and announced that she had been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease.

Venus entered Wimbledon unseeded and lost her first five games on Monday morning. In the second set she began to put up a fight but missed a forehand in the sixth as Vesnina clinched the match on a service.

Williams has appeared in the Wimbledon tournament for the last 16 years in a row and hasn’t lost in the first round since her first Wimbledon appearance.

Also advancing on the day was third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska and Grand Slam champions Sam Stosur and Li Na.

Radwanska defeated Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 6-3, 6-3 while Stosur defeated Carla Suarez-Navarro of Spain 6-1, 6-3 and Li Na swept Ksenia Pervak of Russia with a final score of 6-3, 6-1.

The first seeded player to be ousted was No. 16 Flavia Pennetta who fell to Camila Giorgi of Italia with a final score of 6-4, 6-3.

Britain has been hit with lots of rain over the last several weeks but play on Monday morning was met with a nice 72 degrees and cloudy skies.

Are you surprised by Venus Williams‘ early exit from Wimbledon?