Williams world supremacy threatened after Chinese star defeats her

China's Li Na claimed a famous scalp on Wednesday when she defeated world number one Serena Williams 0-6, 6-1, 6-4 here at the WTA tournament and pretty much cost the powerfully-built American her top world ranking. In a dramatic match which see-sawed several times, Li rallied having been totally over-whelmed in the first set to put Williams under immense pressure.

"I was very nervous in the first set and I just didn't have a chance," said Li, who lost to Russia's Dinara Safina in the Olympic Games semi-finals having beaten Serena's sister Venus in the quarter-finals.

"I told myself: 'Come on, it's only been 20 minutes - you could still win this after an hour'.

"I knew I just had to hang in there." Williams started the second round match with a hiss and a roar as she demolished Li 6-0 in just 21 minutes. STUTTGART, Germany, Thursday, AFP