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Williams knocked out in Auckland
- Updated: January 4, 2017
Serena Williams suffered a shock defeat to fellow American Madison Brengle in the second round of the Auckland Classic on Wednesday.
The top seed had been playing in her first tournament since losing in the semi-finals of the US Open four months ago but lost 6-4 6-7 6-4 to the world No 72 in a little over two hours, while her older sister Venus withdrew from the tournament with an arm injury ahead of the second round.
Serena was using the tournament to prepare for the Australian Open and had shown signs of rustiness in her 6-3 6-4 first round win over Pauline Parmentier before repeated unforced errors against Brengle.
She started with an ace only to follow up with a double fault which exemplified the inconsistent nature of her game in the swirling wind.
Brengle, who had played Williams …
