For the first time since her debut appearance at the All England Club 15 years ago, five-time Venus Williams failed to get past the first round of Wimbledon 2012.
The seven-time Grand Slam champion was eliminated 6-1, 6-3 by Elena Vesnina of Russia at Wimbledon on Monday, the latest setback in her return to tennis after being diagnosed with an energy-sapping autoimmune disease.
Williams, who has fallen to 58th in the rankings, lost the first five games on Court 2 to the 79th-ranked Russian and, although she picked up her game and fought hard, was never able to turn the match around.
It was the first time Williams lost in the opening round of a Grand Slam since the 2006 Australian Open- the first at Wimbledon since her debut appearance in 1997.
"I feel like I'm a great player," Williams said. "I am a great player.
Unfortunately I have to deal with circumstances that people don't have to deal with normally in a sport, but I can't be discouraged by that. I'm up for challenges. I have great tennis in me. I just need the opportunity."
Williams revealed in late August at the U.S. Open that she had been diagnosed with Sjogren's syndrome, an autoimmune condition that can cause fatigue and joint pain. She skipped the Australian Open in January, before returning to the tour in March in a bid to earn a berth on the U.S Olympic team for the London Games.
"I've been through a lot for years without knowing what I was going through," she said. "It's all a culmination at the end of the day. I just try to stay positive and focus on the tennis. I'm tough, let me tell you - tough as nails."
Williams has been champion or runner-up at the All England Club eight of the past 12 years, with her last title coming in 2008. The three losses in finals all came against younger sister Serena.
"I don't have time to feel sorry for myself," she said. "I'm not going to give up on it. ... There's no way I'm going to just sit down and give up just because I have a hard time the first five or six tournaments back. That's just not me."
The Olympic tournament will be played at Wimbledon three weeks after the end of the championships.
"At the Olympics, you'll see me here," she said. "I'm planning on it."
There were no opening day troubles for top-ranked Novak Djokovic, six-time champion Roger Federer and No. 1 Maria Sharapova, who all enjoyed easy straight-set wins on a cloudy but dry start to the two-week grass court championships.
Defending champion Djokovic beat Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 in the day's first match on Centre Court, while Sharapova came on next and overpowered Anastasia Rodionova 6-2, 6-3.
Federer, seeking his record-tying seventh Wimbledon crown, dropped only three games in trouncing Spain's Albert Ramos 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 on Court 1 – the first time since 2003 that he wasn't assigned to Centre Court for the opening round.
The highest seeded player to fall on Day 1 was No. 6 Tomas Berdych, the 2010 runner-up from the Czech Republic who lost in three straight tiebreakers to 87th-ranked Ernests Gulbis of Latvia. Gulbis, considered a potential top 10 player who never lived up to his potential, served 30 aces to win 7-6 (5) 7-6 (4) 7-6 (4), his first victory at a Grand Slam since the 2011 U.S. Open.
John Isner, the 11th-seded American, was upset in five sets by Alejandro Falla of Colombia, 6-4, 6-7 (7), 3-6, 7-6 (7), 7-5. Isner served 31 aces but was broken to end the contest, a result that ruled out another Wimbledon match between the American and Nicolas Mahut.
Isner beat the Frenchman in the longest match in tennis history here two years ago, an 11-hour, 5-minute marathon that ended 70-68 in the fifth set. Isner beat Mahut again last year in the first round, and the two could have met again this week in round two.
Kim Clijsters, a four-time Grand Slam winner playing in her final Wimbledon, beat former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 6-2, 6-4 in the final match on Court 1. The Belgian, who withdrew from the semifinals of a grass-court tournament in the Netherlands last week with a stomach muscle strain, showed no signs of injury as she extended her career record over Jankovic to 8-1.
In keeping with tradition, the defending men's champ got the honour of opening play on Centre Court. Djokovic, bidding for a sixth Grand Slam title, was broken in his second service game as he slipped behind the baseline on break point and couldn't return the shot. But he held serve the rest of the way, losing only nine points on his first serve and finishing with 13 aces.
Ferrero, a 32-year-old Spaniard who won the French Open in 2003 and reached No. 1 in the world that year, was never able to mount a challenge on the fast surface.
Sharapova, who won the French Open this month to complete a career Grand Slam, picked up right where she left off at Roland Garros. She thoroughly dominated the 133rd-ranked Rodionova, a Russian-born Australian, to win in just over an hour.
Eighth-seeded Janko Tipsarevic beat 2002 runner-up David Nalbandian 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-2. It was Nalbandian's first match since he was disqualified in the final at Queen's Club for kicking an advertising board and injuring a line judge.
"I think everybody understood (it) wasn't a good thing that I did, but (I) was very unlucky, as well," he said.
In early matches, the third-seeded Radwanska and Grand Slam champions Sam Stosur and Li Na won in straights sets to move into the second round. John Isner went five sets at Wimbledon again - and lost this time.
The 11th-seeded American blew a lead and was upset by 73rd-ranked Alejandro Falla of Colombia 6-4, 6-7 (7), 3-6, 7-6 (7), 7-5 in the first round at the All England Club on Monday.
Isner is best known for winning the longest match in tennis history, an 11-hour, 5-minute marathon that ended 70-68 in the fifth set against Nicolas Mahut in the first round of Wimbledon in 2010. Isner also went five sets and more than 5½ hours in the second round at the French Open last month, losing 18-16 to Paul-Henri Mathieu.
Against Falla, the 6-foot-9 Isner hit 31 aces. But Falla won 27 of 34 points at the net, and broke Isner to end the match.
Kim Clijsters' last Wimbledon got off to a good start when she beat former top-ranked player Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 6-2, 6-4 in the first round.
Clijsters is playing at the All England Club for just the second time in six years and has said she is retiring after this year's U.S. Open – this time for good, having returned to the sport in 2009 after a two-year break.
The 47th-ranked Belgian looked to have recovered fully from recent injuries, breaking the 18th-seeded Jankovic five times - including at love in the final game to clinch the victory.
She improved her record to 8-1 against Jankovic.
Former runner-up Tomas Berdych was upset by Ernests Gulbis of Latvia in the first round at Wimbledon after losing three tiebreakers.
The sixth-seeded Czech was looking to reach the second round for the eighth straight year but lost 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4) on Centre Court in the biggest surprise in the men's draw on the opening day at the All England Club.
Berdych lost to Rafael Nadal in the final in 2010 after beating six-time champion Roger Federer in the quarterfinals. He struggled to counter Gulbis' serve, though, with the Latvian hitting 30 aces.
Both players were broken once in the second set - with Berdych converting the only break point he earned in the match - but Gulbis proved stronger in every tiebreaker.
AP