Tennis world reeling over Federer and Serena shocker
Roger Federer and Serena William are arguably the world‘s most talented tennis stars – but even with 43 grand slam titles between them, the pair have suffered many unbelievable losses.
During his first outing in two months, Federer lost in a devastating 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to Spanish clay-court specialist Pablo Andujar in Geneva.
This loss would go on to destroy his hopes of stringing a run of matches together ahead of the French Open, Wimbledon and the Tokyo Olympics.
He was not the only sporting giant to have a disappointing return though, as Williams' lost straight sets to 68th-ranked Katerina Siniakova in the second round of the Emilia-Romagna Open.
Federer's defeat stood out considering it marked his first loss on his own stomping grounds in over seven years.
The 39-year-old returned to the courts in Doha in March after being out for more than a year, following two knee surgeries.
While he won his first match, the 20-time grand slam champion would go on to lose his second.
The tennis great admitted he was hoping to find some form on the Geneva clay but tumbled at the first hurdle on Tuesday.
"It's good to be back on the court but then you lose a match like this and you're down," Federer told reporters.
"I know my limitations at the moment.
"People expect a lot from me and I have high expectations for myself.
"So when I walk out of a match and feel I could have played so much better, it feels strange and it's disappointing."
Federer said he plans on working to analyse his game in order to figure out where he is falling short.
"This is the process I need to go through. I can't get too down on myself," he said.
"I need to go back to the drawing board and talk to the team and say 'what's the plan here for the next 10 days?'.
"What did they see from the outside that maybe I didn't see and feel? There's going to be a lot of conversations."
39-year-old Williams accepted a wildcard invitation for the Parma tournament after losing her opening match at the Italian Open in mid May, but was beaten 7-6 (4) 6-2.
The 23-time grand slam champ had beaten teenage qualifier Lisa Pigato 6-3 6-2 in the previous round for her first victory since defeating Simona Halep in the Australian Open quarter-finals in February.
However, Williams then lost in straight sets in Rome to Nadia Podoroska.
The star says she is preparing for the French Open in Paris which starts on May 30.
"I didn't do a lot of mistakes, and I think she felt it," Siniakova said.
"I think she was trying to go harder and doing a lot of mistakes, which helped me. I'm really happy I could keep my level all match."
Williams racked up seven double faults under pressure and quickly her fate was sealed on her third match point when the American hit a forehand long.
"It's amazing, it means a lot to me," Siniakova said after the sixth Top 10 victory of her career.
"I played (an) amazing match. It shows me that I can play like this, I can play well. I just need to try be more focused every time and to stay calm and ready for every point. I will be really happy if I could keep it like this."
Images: Getty