Williams sees positives in Kvitova defeat
Serena Williams took the positives from her comprehensive defeat to Petra Kvitova in the semi-finals of the Madrid Open.
World number one Serena Williams believes her Madrid Open semi-final defeat to Petra Kvitova will help her prepare for this month's French Open.
Williams saw her 27-match winning streak ended in emphatic fashion by Kvitova, who triumphed 6-2 6-3 to set up a final with Svetlana Kuznetsova.
The American will now compete at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome next week prior to her tilt at a third Roland Garros title.
"I'm just exhausted today. This has been a rough week for me," Williams said.
"It's all part of the clay though. It's good to be really exhausted now going into another tournament and then getting ready for Roland Garros.
"So this is all great preparation that I actually really, really needed something to push me to the wall and to the limit.
"I think she [Kvitova] just played well today. I mean she went for broke on every serve and every return.
"I hit some second serves which she just hit for winners. I was very slow off the mark. On my serve I wasn't moving as well as I should have. I wasn't in it, this wasn't Serena today."