A defeat is not what world number one women's tennis player Serena Williams expected and she was left visibly agitated as she destroyed her racquet in frustration and called the chair umpire a liar after Poland grabbed a historic Hopman Cup title on Saturday.
Agnieszka Radwanska shocked 18-time major champion Williams 6-4, 6-7 (7-3), 6-1 to take Poland ahead 1-0 in front of 10,867 fans at Perth Arena.
Isner ensured the top seeds stayed alive with a 7-6 (12-10), 6-4 win over Jerzy Janowicz, but Poland bagged their maiden Hopman Cup after prevailing 7-5, 6-3 in the deciding mixed doubles, Stuff.co.nz reported.
However, the mixed doubles was played amidst controversy.
With the U.S. 2-1 down in the second set and staring at defeat, a point had to be replayed after Janowicz prematurely celebrated thinking that both Isner and Williams had struck the ball.
Williams believed that the U.S. should have been awarded the point due to Janowicz's distraction and a five-minute argument involving all four players, the chair umpire and the ITF referee ensued.
The Americans ended up winning the replay, but a few games later Williams twice smashed her racquet on the court after missing a simple backhand.
Williams, a two-time Hopman Cup champion, entered her singles match having won all of her previous eight contests against Radwanska, but the Pole, who had only once won a set against the American earlier in the 2012 Wimbledon final, came out on top.
Radwanska said that it doesn't matter what the score is, adding that it's never over, insisting that Williams is a great fighter. She also said that she is just very happy that she could come back after that second set and play her good game in the third set.
