Serena Williams reacts to Wimbledon crowd jibe during Simona Halep defeat
SERENA WILLIAMS says she heard the shout from the crowd during her defeat to Simona Halep.
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After Williams crumbled to a 6-2 first-set defeat, a member of the Centre Court crowd shouted: "Serena, wake up".
It led to a rallying call from those inside the stadium who wanted to see a more competitive match.
As it where, Halep's incredible level of tennis continued in the second set as she won it by the same score.
And Williams admitted afterwards that she heard those cries from the stands.
However, the 23-time Grand Slam winner claims it did not affect her performance.
"Actually I did hear it," Williams said.
"I definitely wasn't asleep. But I did hear it.
"Actually sometimes the comments help me, whether they're good or bad. Yeah, it didn't bother me at all."
Williams was full of praise for Halep in her post-match press conference.
And she feels there was nothing more that could be done to stop the Romanian in her tracks.
"I don't know if there's anything I could have done differently," she added.
"I think I gave a great effort for this fortnight. Again, I just think Simona just played her heart out.
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"If anything, I could just learn to be like that.
"So I don't think there's anything too much differently I could have done today.
"I definitely knew that she was just playing her heart out. I felt like, Okay, what do I need to do to get to that level?"