London: Serena 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 24th seed Alize Cornet in the third round on Saturday.


Top seed Serena Williams reacts during her third round Wimbledon match to Alize Cornet on Saturday. Pic/Getty Images 

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.