Controversy as Venus falls

TWO-time champion Venus Williams was upset in the second round of Wimbledon, losing in straight sets to Croatia's Karolina Sprem in a match marred by an umpire's scoring error in the final tiebreaker.

The 19-year-old Sprem, ranked No. 30, outplayed Williams on Centre Court 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6) in the first major surprise of the championships.

Chair umpire Ted Watts incorrectly called the score as 2-2 in the second-set tiebreaker, giving Sprem a point when instead she should have been taking a second serve.