Serena Williams suffers worst loss of tennis career

Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Wimbledon runner-up Serena Williams suffered the worst loss of her career, falling to Johanna Konta at the 2018 Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic.

Williams lost the match 6-1, 6-0 in the opening round of the tournament Tuesday in San Jose, Calif. The match lasted 52 minutes. Williams won her serve in the first game but would not win another point. Her second-worst loss came at the 2014 WTA finals, when she fell 6-0, 6-2 to Simona Halep.

Williams told reporters that Konta played well in the second set and she wasn't sharp in the first set. She said that Konta "ran away" with the match after getting confidence.

"I know I can play a zillion times better so that kind of helps out, too. I have so many things on my mind I don't have time to be shocked about a loss that clearly wasn't at my best right now," Williams said.

"When I was out there, was fighting. That's the only thing I can say, I wasn't just like giving it away and I was moving a lot better. So I'm just trying to take the positives out of it."

Williams is ranked No. 24 in the Women's Tennis Association rankings. Konta is ranked No. 48. She takes on American Sofia Kenin in the round of 16 at 6 p.m. Wednesday in San Jose.

The 2018 U.S. Open will begin Aug. 27 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City. Williams is a six-time U.S. Open champion, with her last Grand Slam at that tournament coming in 2014.