The manner of her defeat inevitably led to speculation that the 37-year-old may have had a physical problem that stopped her from competing with the effectiveness she had shown in earlier rounds.
In the first women's final played under the Centre Court roof, a high-quality first set gradually built towards a captivating conclusion after both players began with two comfortable service holds.
Spain's Garbine Muguruza reached her second Wimbledon final in three years with a thumping 6-1, 6-1 win over Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova.
Goalkeeper Rogerio Ramos turned in a fine performance to enable the Goa side take a point against the National Football League defending champions.
Real Madrid tightened their grip on top spot by beating Alaves 3-0 at home in La Liga on Sunday to provisionally move five points ahead of nearest challengers Barcelona despite coach Zinedine Zidane making a string of changes in defence.
Holders Real Madrid reached the Champions League final for a third year in a row after taking advantage of Bayern Munich's carelessness in attack and defence to draw 2-2 in their semi-final second leg on Tuesday, and winning 4-3 on aggregate, at the Santiago Bernabeu, in Madrid, Spain, on Tuesday.
Mahesh Bhupathi, Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza advanced to the second round of doubles events at Wimbledon on Wednesday.
Chelsea's Marcos Alonso and Real Madrid's Nacho were notable absentees in defence, along with Atletico Madrid midfielder Koke.
Winning the treble last season has spurred Barcelona to try and win all six trophies up for grabs this year and replicate the feat they achieved in 2009, midfielder Andres Iniesta said on Monday.
Cristiano Ronaldo showed nerves of steel to score an injury-time penalty and send holders Real Madrid into the semi-finals of the Champions League in extraordinary circumstances as they lost 3-1 to Juventus on Wednesday but won a thrilling tie 4-3 on aggregate.
Google's Larry Page has emerged as the 'business person of the year' for 2014, edging past the likes of Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, according to Fortune magazine.
Barca dominated possession and Luis Suarez had several early chances but it was Villarreal who took the lead with Denis Cheryshev redirecting a Mario Gaspar shot past keeper Claudio Bravo on the half hour.
Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde will be banking on new signing Ousmane Dembele to fill the gap left by Neymar's departure as he looks to overcome off-pitch difficulties when the Catalans take on Espanyol on Saturday.
'There is no advantage. I always prefer to play in front of supporters even away from home because that's what football is all about, but that's the situation we face'
P V Sindhu hoped to regain peak fitness before the start of individual events and assured India will return with multiple medals.
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane is happy with his squad and the club has not discussed possible reinforcements despite FIFA's decision to ban them from the next two transfer windows, he said on Saturday. FIFA announced on Thursday it had banned Real and neighbours Atletico Madrid from registering players for the next two windows for breaching rules on signing non-Spanish Under-18 players. Both clubs denied wrongdoing and said they would appeal. The list of players included at least one of Zidane's four sons, who play for various Real youth teams, although the club have not confirmed which of them were singled out by FIFA.
IMAGES from matches played on Day 7 of the French Open at the Roland Garros in Paris on Saturday
Lionel Messi came off the bench to preserve Barcelona's unbeaten run in La Liga with a sensational late equaliser in a thrilling 2-2 draw at Sevilla on Saturday as the runaway leaders came back from two goals down in the space of a minute.
Bayern Munich forward Thomas Muller has stated that 'it would be almost boring' to see Portuguese international Cristiano Ronaldo winning the prestigious Ballon d'Or award yet again.
We present our alphabet of 2020, pulling in everything you'll remember about this year we'd rather forget.
Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka advanced to the Rogers Cup quarter-finals on Thursday to set up their first meeting since the American's infamous row with an umpire overshadowed last year's US Open final.
Real Madrid survived an early Atletico Madrid onslaught to reach the Champions League final 4-2 on aggregate on Wednesday and set up a mouth-watering clash against Juventus.
A Spanish judge has accepted a legal complaint filed by Brazilian investment fund DIS that alleges it was the victim of a fraud perpetrated in Barcelona's signing of forward Neymar from Santos.
It will be the earliest meeting between the two since their first professional match in the second round of the 1998 Australian Open.
They beat Athletic Bilbao 4-0 at the Bernabeu on Thursday to make the grade.
A round-up of Saturday's Euro 2020 qualification matches.
The 28-year-old Argentine has scored seven goals from direct free-kicks in this year's La Liga, the latest in Sunday's 5-0 triumph over Espanyol.
Sharapova was broken in the first game but fought back to draw level before going on to take the first set with a hold to love.
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique hailed hat-trick hero Lionel Messi as the greatest player in the world "in every position" after the Argentine maestro sent another record tumbling in a thumping 7-0 Champions League win over Celtic.
World number one Simona Halep saved three match-points before edging past an inspired Lauren Davis 4-6, 6-4, 15-13 in a thrilling marathon to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open on Saturday.
Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo will be looking to rekindle some of the magic they once served up under Carlo Ancelotti on Wednesday when they face their old coach in the latest edition of Real Madrid's rivalry with Bayern Munich.
Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova is to step down due to ill health, Spanish media reported on Friday, without identifying the source of their information.
Nepal's Rastrapati Bhawan has been declared unsafe for use after the building developed cracks due to the devastating temblor.
Lionel Messi notched his 250th La Liga goal to move one off the all-time league scoring record as leaders Barcelona won 3-0 against Eibar on Saturday ahead of next weekend's Clasico with Real Madrid.
Ousmane Dembele's late strike rescued a 1-1 draw for champions Barcelona at Atletico Madrid but Sevilla moved top with a 1-0 win over Real Valladolid. European champions Real Madrid were humiliated in a 3-0 defeat at Eibar.
The win moved Spurs up to third but unbeaten Manchester City still looked in a class of their own at the top as Leroy Sane scored twice in a 4-0 stroll over West Ham United.
Japan international Shinji Kagawa sparkled on his return to Borussia Dortmund, scoring one goal for the Ruhr Valley club and helping set up another in a 3-1 win over Freiburg on Saturday.
From bloody noses to sparks on the race track, Rediff.com has the best pictures from the last week snapped right here...
Real Madrid put their title defence back on track with a comfortable 3-1 win over Real Sociedad at Anoeta on Sunday, despite missing several key players. Sociedad defender Kevin Rodrigues scored at both ends and Borja Mayoral and Gareth Bale netted Madrid's other goals to help them equal the consecutive scoring record of 73 games set by Pele's Santos between 1961 and 1963.
'The system is the same and we all have to contribute a bit more but it is impossible not to feel Messi's absence' 'But Neymar is also a leader for his playing style and what he brings to the team'
