"Can't win every match, players come out and play me like they've never played before": When Serena Williams spoke on premature exit at Miami Open

Serena Williams refused to criticize her on-court movement following her exit from the 2016 Miami Open.

The American entered the tournament as the top seed and three-time defending champion. She booked her place in the fourth round following wins over Christina McHale and Zarina Diyas,

She was then up against 15th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova and won the first set via a tiebreak. However, the Russian fought back and registered a 6-7(3), 6-1, 6-2 win to reach the quarterfinals in Miami.

After the match, Serena Williams said in her post-match press conference:

"It's obviously disappointing, but I've won here a lot, so it's okay."

Williams added that while she was fine physically, she didn't move well on court.

"Yeah, physically I'm fine. I just didn't -- I don't know, I guess I didn't move today. Maybe that was one of the things that didn't work out for me," Williams said.

When Williams was asked why she was unable to move as well on court as expected, she replied that it wasn't appropriate to criticize her movement as she did the best she could.

She further stated that she couldn't win all of her matches as players played her like they never did before.

"I don't think it's appropriate to criticize my movement right now. I did the best that I could. My fans, you know, I did the best I could do. I can't win every match. The players come out and play me like they've never played before in their lives. You know, the best that I could do today. I have to be 300 percent every day, so...," Williams said.

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Serena Williams is the most successful player in Miami Open history

Serena Williams at an event in Phoenix in 2023

No singles player, male or female, has attained more success at the Miami Open than Serena Williams.

The American won the WTA 1000 event a mammoth eight times during her career from 2002-2015. Her first title came three years after she lost to Venus Williams in the final. Furthermore, she did not drop a single set en route.

Williams successfully defended her title in Florida twice in 2003 and 2004, beating Jennifer Capriati and Elena Dementieva in the respective finals.

Her next two title triumphs also came in successive years in 2007 and 2008. Williams had another spell of three successive tournament wins in Miami from 2013-2015.