Defiant Serena vows to reassert her supremacy

Defiant Serena Williams insists her shock Wimbledon exit won’t herald the end of her reign as the dominant force in the women’s game. Williams crashed to her earliest exit at Wimbledon for nine years as the world No 1 suffered a shock 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 loss against French 25th seed Alize Cornet in the 3rd round on Saturday. Top seed Williams, a five-time Wimbledon champion, had reached at least the last 16 in each of her previous seven visits to the All England Club, but Cornet fought back from a set down to end that sequence in two hours and four minutes of gripping drama on Court 1 on Saturday. It was the shell-shocked 32-year-old’s earliest Wimbledon exit since her loss to Jill Craybas at the same stage in 2005. Serena could have no complaints about an embarrassing defeat which continued a disappointing campaign for the 17-time Grand Slam champion, who has failed to get beyond the fourth round at any of the three majors so far this year, according to a news agency.