Schnyder shocks Serena Williams

Swiss tennis number one Patty Schnyder has beaten world number two Serena Williams 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 at the Italian Open.

The second-ranked Williams appeared to be moving with difficulty at times in her opening match at Foro Italico, where the clay match ended at 1am on Wednesday.

The players did not get to centre court until well after 11pm, as a rainstorm forced play to be suspended for several hours earlier in the day.

Williams, 27, was broken twice in the first set, came back in the second, but quickly went down 5-0 in the third.

Schnyder, a 30-year-old lefthander, served out the deciding set and the match after 1 hour, 40 minutes.

This was the first clay-court event of the season for Williams, the 2002 Rome champion.

Schnyder, ranked 20th, won for the fourth time in 12 matches against Williams. Her most recent win against Williams was in Rome two years ago.

The Basel player has won 11 WTA tournaments and reached the semifinal of the Australian Open in 2004.

swissinfo with agencies