Serena Williams Blames Headache for Upset Loss

Serena Williams blamed a headache for her poor play Wednesday in a 7-6 (5), 6-3 upset loss to qualifier Alina Jidkova in the second round of the Generali Ladies Open at Linz, Austria.

The third-seeded Williams, who got a first-round bye, made 29 unforced errors. She hadn’t played in a month because of lingering pain in her left knee.

“My knee was pretty OK, but I suffered from a bad headache,” Williams said. “I am really disappointed, but I felt really dizzy and was lacking energy.”

The six-time major champion was given painkillers by a trainer after falling behind, 3-1, in the second set. Williams said the medicine helped her head but slowed her reaction time and made her feel tired.

Jidkova, a 25-year-old Russian, has never won a WTA title.

“It feels so great to have beaten Serena. I was trying to watch the ball and forget whom I am facing,” said the 73rd-ranked Jidkova, who has lost seven straight first-round matches at Grand Slam tournaments.

Asked whether she thought Williams was not at her best, Jidkova said: “What do you mean, ‘She was not fit?’ She was hitting great, and I don’t think she had any pains.”

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Andre Agassi defeated Kristof Vliegen, 6-2, 6-4, in his opening match of the Stockholm Open. Agassi entered and exited the court to standing ovations.

No. 3 Andrei Pavel defeated Michal Tabara, 6-3, 6-3, and 2000 champion Thomas Johansson outlasted No. 6 Robin Soderling, 1-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4.

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Tim Henman beat Antony Dupuis, 6-3, 6-4, in the opening round of the Swiss Indoors at Basel, Switzerland.

The only seeded player to lose was No. 8 Fernando Gonzalez, an Olympic gold medalist in doubles and bronze medalist in singles. He was beaten, 6-3, 6-4, by Jerome Haehnel.

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Olympic silver medalist Mardy Fish was knocked out in the second round of the St. Petersburg Open at Russia, losing, 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-3, to Cyril Saulnier.

In other matches, top-seeded Marat Safin reached the second round when Alexander Peya quit because of an ankle injury while trailing, 7-6 (5), 4-1, in the second set.

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Mary Pierce lost to Dally Randriantefy, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, in the second round of the SEAT Open at Luxembourg.

Auto Racing

Jimmy Spencer was fired by Morgan McClure Motorsports, just days after he was arrested and accused of interfering with police officers as they attempted to serve a warrant on his son.

Spencer, 47, has driven 25 races for the team this season without posting a top-10 finish. He ran 29th in Sunday’s race at Martinsville Speedway. The team didn’t indicate whether the firing was because of Spencer’s arrest.

“Over the past several weeks there has been a steady and gradual improvement in the Morgan McClure race car and Spencer has been an integral part of this drive for success,” team owner Larry McClure said in a statement. “While his part has been greatly appreciated by everyone here at Morgan McClure Motorsports, it has been decided, by mutual agreement, that it would be beneficial to both the team and to Jimmy Spencer to release him so that he may pursue other driving opportunities within the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series.”

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The Speed Channel will interrupt programming today at 11 a.m. PDT to switch to live coverage of a memorial service being held for members of the Hendrick family who died in a plane crash last weekend.

Baseball

Rafael Palmeiro accepted a one-year, $3-million contract to remain with the Baltimore Orioles.

Palmeiro, 40, batted .258 with 23 homers and 88 RBIs -- the first time since 1994 that he failed to hit at least 38 homers and drive in 100 runs.

Palmeiro ranks 10th on the career list with 551 homers and is 78 hits short of 3,000.

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Dodger bench coach Jim Riggleman interviewed for the New York Met managing job, and the team hopes to hire a replacement for Art Howe next week.... Philadelphia interviewed former catcher John Russell for its managerial opening.

Miscellany

Former world champion ski jumper Matti Nykanen was sentenced to 26 months in a Helsinki, Finland, prison after stabbing a man during a drunken stupor in August.

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Mountain High in Wrightwood opened to snowboarders and skiers, becoming the first Southland ski area to do so. Up to 18 inches of snow fell Tuesday night, enabling the earliest opening in the area’s history.

Snow Summit and Big Bear Mountain in Big Bear Lakes received up to 20 inches of powder and one or both ski areas are expected to be open by Friday. Nearby Snow Valley will open in mid-November.