Perhaps it had all been too good to be true. In the absence of the injured Andy Murray, the stage had been set for Laura Robson to become the focal point of British attention here at the French Open, but for once the 19-year-old failed to deliver. While a 6-3, 6-2 defeat by Caroline Wozniacki was a fair reflection of the two players' rankings – the 22-year-old Dane sits 27 places higher than the Briton at No 10 in the world – there could be no escaping the sense that this was a missed opportunity.

British 19-year-old puts up promising fight against world No 1 but eventually loses 6-2, 6-2

City look for quick move as Mancini awaits sacking

Sixth seed Angelique Kerber continued her winning streak against the Williams sisters with a dramatic victory over Venus on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The old boxing cliche has it that a big good 'un will always beat a good little 'un; and in boxing there are different weight divisions supposedly preventing serious mismatches.

The old boxing cliché has it that a big good 'un will always beat a good little 'un; and in boxing there are different weight divisions supposedly preventing serious mismatches.

Not sure what the Tories' bash-the-benefits brigade would have made of Potito Starace's efforts yesterday. The 30-year-old Italian was the first to depart this year's Championships, retiring hurt 59 minutes into the day. His 10 games against Ryan Sweeting earned him £14,500 as a first-round loser, which is not a bad hourly rate.

All courts noon start except Centre and No 1 (1pm)

Venus Williams withdrew from the US Open before her second-round match against Germany's Sabine Lisicki last night after revealing that she is suffering from an auto-immune disease. The 2000 and 2001 champion, who has been troubled by health problems for the last year, said she had been diagnosed with Sjogren's Syndrome, a medical condition that affects her energy levels and causes fatigue and joint pain.

The US is facing its longest wait for a new Agassi or Sampras – the time has come to cast net wider

Forget the Milibands, triathletes Alistair and Jonny are the really remarkable brothers – because when the going gets tough, they help each other

The thing is...

Even when they are no longer here, the Williams sisters cast a long shadow. Yesterday, both the women who had the temerity to send them home found they had inadequate reserves to deal with their next opponents.

Their exit from the tournament, without a set between them yesterday, at least demonstrated that the women's game is not quite the turkey shoot it might have seemed, had one of them gone on to a tenth title in 12 years. But it was always a bit ambitious, to expect Serena and Venus Williams to perceive that bigger picture themselves. Asked to do so, Serena was withering. "Yeah, I'm super happy I lost," she said. "Go, women's tennis."