Williams crashed to her earliest exit at Wimbledon for nine years as the world number one suffered a shock 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 loss against French 25th seed Alize Cornet in the third 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 One on Saturday.
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.
Serena had arrived in south-west London desperate to make amends for her shock first round exit against Garbine Muguruza at the French Open last month, a chastening result which followed her Australian Open fourth round defeat against Ana Ivanovic.
But she is convinced her poor form in 2014 isn't a sign that she is finally on the way down after over a decade as the sport's pre-eminent power.
"I thought I was doing pretty decent. I'm going to have to watch this film and see what I can do better and what went wrong.
"It's okay. Sometimes it happens. You work hard, maybe it's not for today, maybe it's for tomorrow. I just got to keep going.
"It's happened to me a few times. But it's fun. It kind of gives you a mission to work on, gives you goals to work towards to kind of see what you can do to do better.
You’ve reached your limit of {{free_limit}} free articles this month.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
Already subscribed? Log in
Subscribe to read the full story →
Smart Quarterly
₹900
3 Months
₹300/Month
Smart Essential
₹2,700
1 Year
₹225/Month
Super Saver
₹3,900
2 Years
₹162/Month
Renews automatically, cancel anytime
Here’s what’s included in our digital subscription plans
Exclusive premium stories online
Over 30 premium stories daily, handpicked by our editors


Complimentary Access to The New York Times
News, Games, Cooking, Audio, Wirecutter & The Athletic
Business Standard Epaper
Digital replica of our daily newspaper — with options to read, save, and share


Curated Newsletters
Insights on markets, finance, politics, tech, and more delivered to your inbox
Market Analysis & Investment Insights
In-depth market analysis & insights with access to The Smart Investor


Archives
Repository of articles and publications dating back to 1997
Ad-free Reading
Uninterrupted reading experience with no advertisements


Seamless Access Across All Devices
Access Business Standard across devices — mobile, tablet, or PC, via web or app
