the secret is out" over her condition.

Williams admitted that a bad back sustained during practice hampered her movement, but refused to blame the injury for her stunning exit that blew the Australian Open wide open.

Raging favourite to clinch her 18th Grand Slam title and sixth at Melbourne Park, the world number one was overhauled 4-6 6-3 6-3 in front of an astonished Rod Laver Arena crowd as the resurgent Ivanovic soared to her finest victory in years.
Williams crashed out in a hail of 31 unforced errors and managed only three winners in the third set as the anticipated fightback the American has counted on throughout her career failed to materialise.
Her coach Patrick Mouratoglou, who talked up a serious tilt at a calendar Grand Slam before the tournament, said Williams had "blocked" her back during practice before her third round match against Daniela Hantuchova.




She made some good shots, and I just made way, way, a lot of unforced errors."
Williams had never lost a set to Ivanovic, let alone a match, before Sunday and since last year's Australian Open was riding a 77-3 winning record.
Pundits had talked of the American's 18th Grand Slam title being a formality -- barring injury or illness -- and debated how soon the 31-year-old would reach Steffi Graf's total of 22 Grand Slam titles.

With Williams gone, 20-year-old Stephens is the last American woman in the singles draw. It also leaves a cavernous hole in the top half of the draw, where 14th seeded Ivanovic and China's fourth seed Li Na are the hightest-ranked players.
"I'm always disappointed when I lose, but it's always a good thing," Williams said.
"I plan on getting better. I think it's almost good that I lost today because now I know what to work on, I know what to do when I get on the practice court.
"But like I said, I feel very encouraged to go home, and pain or no pain, just to start working even harder. Every time I lose I feel like I get better, and I'm going to definitely go home and do a tremendous amount better."