VIENNA: Ailing Serena Williams suffered her earliest tournament defeat since April 2000 when she was beaten 7-6, 6-2 by Russian qualifier Alina Jidkova in the second round of the Linz Open yesterday.
The former world number one seemed fine in the first set, which she lost 7-5 in the tiebreak, before calling the trainer when 2-1 and a break down in the second.
