Mladenovic stuns Venus

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Venus Williams lost her first match since the Australian Open to Kristina Mladenovic 6-3, 6-1 in the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy Thursday. 
Seeded fourth, Williams showed none of the spark which took her to the Australian Open final last weekend, failing to record a single winner in the opening set compared to 15 for her French opponent. 
Mladenovic broke the tired-looking Williams in the first game of the second set and swiftly wrapped up the second-round win. Williams received a bye in the first round. 
In the quarterfinals, Mladenovic meets defending St. Petersburg champion Roberta Vinci, who beat Andrea Petkovic 6-4, 6-4. Vinci, the sixth-seeded Italian, was broken twice in the first set. 
Also, second-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia cruised past Donna Vekic of Croatia 6-2, 6-2 and into the quarterfinals. 
Cibulkova will play fifth-seeded Russian Elena Vesnina, who progressed by defeating France's Alize Cornet 2-6, 6-3, 6-3. Venus blamed poor fitness for her 55-minute defeat to Mladenovic. 
"Today I wasn't in my best of health," Williams said. 
"I felt pain in my legs. I had similar feelings during my last match in Australia. I also felt some lack of energy. Definitely it wasn't the best match in my life. 
"Also she (Mladenovic) played really well. She has played almost a perfect match and gave me no chance today." "It wasn't as easy as the scoreline indicates," Mladenovic said. 
"Venus is a top player and a great champion. For sure it was difficult for her to come here and compete at her best after playing in Australian Open final." 
In Friday's other quarterfinals, top seed Simona Halep will face Russian wildcard Natalia Vikhlyantseva while third seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova tackles Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.