Ana was eliminated at the AEGON International in Eastbourne following a 6-3, 6-2 defeat against seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams. The American was in imperious form and triumphed in just 62 minutes.
The weather conditions were very gusty in Eastbourne, but both players were hardly making any errors and dished up some quality tennis from the very beginning of the match. Although Ana was able to compete with the American during the rallies, she was broken in the fourth game of the match as Williams was returning very aggressively and with great depth. Ana replied with some great groundstroke winners, but could not recover the break.
The 23-year-old opened the second set with a hold of serve to love and even wangled a break point on the Williams serve in the next game, despite the five-time Wimbledon champion hitting a string of booming first serves.
However, as so often happened during the contest, Williams hauled up yet more big deliveries - which were frequently above 120 mph – to clear away all danger. The older of the Williams sisters managed to break Ana’s next two service games, while Ana could no longer be a threat to the American’s serve.
Williams closed out the match in an authoritative manner, not giving Ana any chance to turn the tide.
Ana will now head to London for the Championships at Wimbledon, which begin on Monday. She is the nineteenth seed for the year's third Grand Slam.
