Serena Williams crashed out of Wimbledon in the fading light tonight after a straight sets loss to Jill Craybas in the third round. The number four seed looked far from her best against her American compatriot as a string of errors handed Craybas a 6-3 7-6 (7-4) victory.
The result also ended hopes of a last-16 clash against her sister with Craybas now set to face Venus in the fourth round next week. Craybas, 30, is already having her most successful Wimbledon to date having failed to get past the second round in her four previous appearances.
Her 23-year-old opponent, on the other hand, can boast two Wimbledon titles from 2002 and 2003 and also reached the final last year before losing out to Maria Sharapova.
However this year's tournament has been something of a struggle for Williams, who has found herself taken to three sets in the opening two matches of a grand slam for the first time in her career.
A first-round battle with fellow American Angela Haynes was followed by a tussle against Mara Santangelo of Italy. And things did not appear to be improving against Craybas, who booked her place in the third round with victories over Ashley Harkleroad and Marion Bartoli.
With Williams' serve letting her down badly, Craybas was able to break her opponent in the sixth game although the former Wimbledon champion pulled back immediately.
However, a further break saw Craybas take the first set and, as frustration began to get the better of Williams, an early break in the second saw the veteran open up an even greater advantage over her younger opponent.
With the possibility of an early exit looming, Williams fought hard eventually breaking back in the eighth with the set then heading into the tie-break. Williams began well but errors once more crept into her game with her forehand shots landing just too long.
A further backhand into the net gave Craybas two match points and the American held her nerve to take the win.
