Tracy Austin

MELBOURNE, Australia - Serbia 2, USA 0. That's the women's score line after Serbian Ana Ivanovic took out Venus Williams in the Australian Open quarterfinals 7-6 (3), 6-4 a day after her sister Serena Williams crashed out to Jelena Jankovic. It's a stunning reversal of events for the USA's top two players, who own 14 majors (six for Venus, eight for Serena) between them.

After a week of play at the year's first major, there was talk about the possibility of an all-Williams final. But the sisters won't be going toe-to-toe Down Under and it's clear that the time when Venus and Serena dominated women's tennis is history. Today's younger players are too talented and have too many weapons for either Venus or Serena or both to rule over them as they once did.

A mostly disappointing performance
Both Venus and Ivanovic seemed nervy at the outset of their match. The first set was sloppy. There were six consecutive breaks of serve and Venus trailed 5-2 before she got her head in it. She managed to work her way back into the set, but she sighed and shrugged her shoulders as the errors mounted -- 21 unforced to just seven winners. She finally lost it in a tiebreak.

I thought the eighth-seeded American would at least push Ivanovic to three sets when she raced out to a 3-0 lead in the second set, but poor serving, some awkward volleys, and Ivanovic's more aggressive play eventually wore her down. The match ended when Venus steered a forehand wide -- her 35th unforced error.

Afterwards Venus offered that she wasn't moving quite as well against Ivanovic as she usually does. “I don't think I ran as many balls down or played offensively on the defensive shot as well as I have in the past,” she said, “and I think those things definitely make a difference in the match.” Her left thigh was heavily taped almost to her knee, but she would not specify what the problem was. Venus is right. Her defense was not up to par. She relies on her ability to track down an extra ball with her huge wingspan -- that's one of her main weapons.

What also made a difference against Ivanovic was Venus' inconsistent serving. She hit on just 59 percent of her first serves and won just 31 percent of her second-serve points. What's more, her second serve is too predictable -- it's always a slice to a right-hander's forehand, and Ivanovic ate it up. There are tournaments, like at Wimbledon in 2007, where the 6-foot-1 Venus serves out of her mind. But she needs to clean it up more and develop more of a kick serve to her opponent's backhand.

Not able to fire into top form  
Venus still has some good miles left on her 27-year-old body. Likewise for Serena who is 26. The sisters have traditionally played fewer tournaments than their peers and they've had some big breaks away from the tour. So they could script at least a few more memorable majors before they ride off into the sunset. They could stir memories of when they were dominating. Remember the celebrated "Serena Slam," when younger sis held all four majors at once -- the 2002 French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open and the '03 Australian. And it's hard to forget Venus winning four majors from 2000-01.

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We've seen both Venus and Serena click into another level at big tournaments time and again. Serena won her third Australian Open title here last year ranked No. 81 and Venus captured Wimbledon in 2007 as the lowest ranked (No. 31) and lowest seed (No. 23) in history after nearly losing twice in the first three rounds. Then she leaped 10 spots in beating Maria Sharapova in the fourth round in London.

We almost expect either or both to gear up to the next level at a major. But this fortnight neither could manage that. While Serena simply stalled out against Jankovic, Venus seemed stuck in third gear. Her scores weren't decisive and she wasn't completely sharp. For instance, she had a whopping 44 errors in her second-round win over Camille Pin of France. Maybe we shouldn't expect the play of each sister to rise with the magnitude of the event. It's tough to pull a rabbit out of a hat consistently. Venus' play has been solid, but it has not been at a championship level. Ivanovic exposed that.

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