Venus Williams Falls at French Open

Finally back on court after two days of rain, Venus Williams warmed up for her fourth-round French Open match Wednesday in a zipped-up gray coat, something that seemed more appropriate for winter wear.

Once play began, the No. 9-seeded Williams never really gave herself a chance to join sister Serena Williams in the quarterfinals, coming up short in a bid to get back to that stage at Roland Garros for the first time in a decade. Venus dropped eight games in a row during one early stretch and lost 6-2, 6-4 to No. 8 Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland.

"The most disappointing part is just not playing well," Venus said.

"She played a smart match," the seven-time major champion added. "That definitely added to my troubles."

Later, the first women's semifinal matchup was established, with No. 4 Garbine Muguruza ending the surprising run of 108th-ranked American Shelby Rogers 7-5, 6-3, and 2011 US Open champion Samantha Stosur eliminating Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 6-4, 7-6 (6).

Venus Williams actually started well enough, taking a 2-0 lead, before Bacsinszky began to add more variety to her strokes and took complete control. Venus slipped to her knees at the baseline on one point, and was generally out of sorts, managing to produce a total of only six winners, while committing 24 unforced errors.

"The first few games she made some errors," Venus said, "and in the last 12 games, I made all the errors."