Serena Williams just suffered the heaviest defeat of her entire 23-year professional tennis career

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Serena Williams.

• Serena Williams reached the 2018 Wimbledon Championships final in July but was brought crashing back down to Earth when she was annihilated by Johanna Konta on Tuesday.
• Konta bested Williams in straight sets and inflicted the heaviest defeat Williams has ever had to suffer.
• Williams lost 6-1, 6-0 in 53 minutes and said Konta "clearly ran away with it."

Serena Williams may have reached the 2018 Wimbledon Championships final, but she was brought crashing back down to earth when she lost to Johanna Konta in her next match at the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic on Tuesday.

Williams was annihilated in straight sets as Konta needed just 53 minutes to best her 6-1, 6-0. It was the worst loss in her entire 23-year professional career in tennis.

"I think she played well in the second set and I wasn't sharp at all in the first set," Williams said, according to The Guardian. "She got confident and clearly ran away with it."

Konta said: "I tried to put aside the incredible champion she is and just play the player of the day. She obviously wasn't playing at her best level, nowhere near it, and I really just tried to play the match on my terms. I felt I did better than her on the day but it's still a humbling experience to be out here with her."

Watch the moment Williams lost right here:

Williams had never lost a professional tennis match without winning at least two games prior to her loss against Konta on Tuesday. But, against Konta, she only managed to win one game - a first in a run that stretches all the way back to her debut in 1995. She made 25 unforced errors, served up seven double faults, and lost 12 games in a row in the 53-minute match.

Williams is now five tournaments into her 2018 comeback, having returned to the sport after giving birth to her daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. last September.