Auckland: Top seed Serena Williams suffered a shock defeat to fellow American Madison Brengle in the second round of the WTA Auckland Classic on Wednesday to bring an abrupt end to her return to the court.


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In her first tournament since losing in the semi-finals of the US Open four months ago, Williams was bundled out 6-4, 6-7 (7/3), 6-4 by the world number 72 in a two-hour, 13-minute arm wrestle.


Williams was looking for a bold showing in Auckland, both to prepare for the Australian Open and to celebrate her New Year engagement to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.


After blaming rust for her sluggish first-round win over Pauline Parmentier on Tuesday, Williams succumbed to repeated unforced errors against Brengle.


She started with an ace only to follow up with a double fault which exemplified the inconsistent nature of her game in the swirling wind.


Brengle dropped her second service game but at 4-1 down reeled off five consecutive games to take the first set.


There was a service break each in the second set in which Williams held and lost five set points before going on to take the tie-break 7-3.


The final set went with serve until Williams double faulted when serving to stay in the match at 4-5.