Undefeated season ends for Serena Williams
It's hard to imagine any professional tennis player pulling off a perfect season, going undefeated against every other professional player.
They're professionals. Surely, someone must be able to compete?
Yet that's exactly what Serena Williams did through the first four months of 2015. No one could touch her.
With Rolland Garros about two weeks away, it looked like the 2015 Australian Open champion might keep the streak alive heading into the second Grand Slam event of the year.
These are the best players in the world. For one to dominate so dramatically, what does that say about the sport? Is she superhuman, or is the women's tennis talent pool incredibly shallow?
On Friday, the Czech Republic's Petra Kvitova finally showed that the pool may be shallow, but it's not empty. Kvitova handed Williams her first loss of the 2015 season in the semi-finals of the Madrid Open. She broke Williams' serve six times in the 6-2, 6-3 win, her first ever against the 19-time Grand Slam champion.
The win snapped the fourth-longest winning streak of the century, according to USA Today's Chris Chase. Williams had taken 27-straight matches, including 24 this season. She won her last 50 Premiere Mandatory matches (the events one step below Grand Slams).
"I'm just exhausted today," Williams said. "But it's really good preparation for Roland Garros."
In Paris, Williams will be looking to bounce back from last year's disaster, when she was knocked out in the second round. The rest of the women's field will be looking to find a little of the magic that Kvitova brought to Madrid on Friday; to prove that Williams may be the best, but she is not untouchable.
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Danielle Elliot is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact her at delliot@yahoo-inc.com or find her on Twitter and Facebook.
