A despondent Serena Williams grudgingly faced the media after her 7-6, 6-1 defeat to top seed Justine Henin in yesterday's quarter-finals, with tears staining her cheeks.
Williams was reluctant to give the Belgian any credit despite being mauled in a one-sided, 36-minute second set.
"I just think shemade a lot of lucky shots, and I made a lot of errors," said Williams, who was eliminated in a Grand Slam quarter-final for the third time this year by Henin, who also beat the American at the French Open and Wimbledon.
Asked if she felt she had lost the match rather than Henin winning it, the twice Open champion said: "I think that's usually the case with me - that it's for me to win or lose. I really don't feel like talking about it, to be honest. I don't want to get fined," the eighth seed said, referring to penalties imposed for missing post-match news conferences.
"That's the only reason I came. I can't afford to pay the fines because I keep losing."
Williams had a set-point at 6-5 in the first set but Henin won the set on a tiebreak, 7-3, and then ripped through the second to earn a clash with either third seed Jelena Jankovic, of Serbia - or Serena's sister Venus.
Serena, the 1999 and 2002 champion, came into the Open having not played since Wimbledon because of a thumb injury, but she said conditioning and her lack of tournament play was not a factor in her defeat. "I'm very fit. I can run for hours," she said.
She said she had a positive attitude going into the match.
"I was really excited to go into it. I was ready. I was really ready to play," she said.
The win was Henin's first against Williams on a hard court.
Asked to explain the loss to Henin, Williams said: "I can't explain that right now. I just don't know, so I can't help you there."
She said she would have to watch the match to understand why she had failed against French Open champion Henin, who levelled their career head-to-head series 6-6.
"I got to go back and study and figure out how to beat her. That's it. Bottom line."
