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.
