Serena Williams vowed to continue working to find consistency after she suffered her earliest Wimbledon defeat since 2005, losing to Alize Cornet in the third round.
The 24th-ranked Cornet won 1-6 6-3 6-4 on Court One at SW19 to claim her second victory of the year over the world No1.
Just because you lose a match doesn’t mean you stop. You’ve just got to keep going
Serena Williams
“I worked really, really hard coming into this event,” said Williams. “I’m going to have to keep working hard.
“Just because you lose a match doesn’t mean you stop. You’ve just got to keep going. I’ll just keep fighting. That’s all I can do really.”
Williams, who has not been past the fourth round of a Grand Slam in 2014, feels that the competition is getting tougher.
“It’s difficult,” she continued. “If I’m not playing a great, great match, these girls when they play me, they play as if they’re on the ATP Tour, and then they play other girls completely different.
“It’s never easy, you know, being in my shoes. But you’ve got to be ready. Every time I step on the court, I have to be a hundred times better. If I’m not, then I’m in trouble.”
Meanwhile, Cornet, who had never before beaten a top-20 player at a Grand Slam, was understandably thrilled with the result.
“I just cannot believe it,” Cornet told BBC Sport. “Three years ago I couldn’t play on grass, I was so bad, but now I have beaten Serena, the world number one on her own court.
“I have to get used to it and focus on the next match because the tournament is not over for me. I am not sure how I did it but just with the heart and the help from the crowd.”