Venus Williams suffered her earliest Wimbledon exit in seven years on Thursday, falling in the second round 7-6, 7-6 to Croatia's Karolina Sprem.

Champion in 2000 and 2001 and runner-up to younger sister the last two years, Williams was outplayed from start to finish as shadows crept across Centre Court.

Shanking groundstrokes both long and wide, the third seed was never able to get a foothold in the match as it ran away from her in 102 agonising minutes.

Sprem, ranked 30th in the world, could hardly miss as the increasingly-frustrated American lurched from one crisis to another.

The Croatian faltered while serving for the match at 5-3 and allowed Venus back into the contest.

Williams held two set points in the second tiebreak but double faulted on the first and netted a simple forehand on her second.

Sprem converted on her first match point when Venus looped a loose forehand long.

The loss was Venus's earliest in any Grand Slam since the French Open in 2001 when she lost in the first round.

Sprem, who had won only one match at Wimbledon before this tournament, will next meet Meghann Shaughnessy or Spain's Nuria Llagosterra Vives

Dulko beats Navratilova again

Argentine Gisela Dulko once again cut short 47-year-old Martina Navratilova's remarkable renaissance with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 second-round victory over the nine-times former champion.

Dulko beat Navratilova easily in the first round of the French Open last month on the Czech-born American's return to Grand Slam singles action after a 10-year absence, but this time she had to dig deep to avoid a humiliating loss.

Navratilova dropped only one game in thrashing Catalina Castano in the first round and looked set to avenge her Paris defeat when she whipped through the first set against world number 59 Dulko in fading sunlight on court three.

The years finally caught up with Navratilova in the second set, though. Dulko levelled the match with an ace and an early break in the third put the relieved Argentine on the way to a face-saving victory.