Venus Williams had lost at Wimbledon before, but never like she did on Tuesday in the quarterfinals to Tsvetana Pironkova. The five-time champion suffered a 6-2, 6-3 drubbing at the hands of the 82nd-ranked Bulgarian, hitting 29 unforced errors and spraying serves all over the court. It was a stunning display of futility and one that was completely unexpected from the best grass-court player of her generation. It forces the question: Is Venus Williams done?  

Consider: Venus hasn’t won any Grand Slam other than Wimbledon since 2001. In the non-Wimbledon slams, she’s only advanced to the semifinals once in the past six years (2007 U.S. Open). During that same stretch, Venus has lost before the quarters in 13 of 18 non-grass majors. Two weeks ago, she turned 30.

It’s not all bad news, though. People were counting out Venus in 2007 when she was coming back from injury and seeded No. 23 at Wimbledon. Twice in the first three rounds of that event she was one game away from defeat. She went on to win the title that year and repeated in 2008 as well. She’s older now, of course, but not ancient. Steffi Graf never won a major after entering her fourth decade, but Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova won two and three, respectively.

The grass courts of Wimbledon were tailor-made for the size and power of Venus. Quick points are good when you’re getting up there in tennis years. Throw in her long reach, effective net game and big serve and it’s not unfathomable to think Venus can contend for another two or three years.

The window is closing, but it’s not yet shut. Venus Williams has defied the odds before. It’d be foolish to think she can’t do it again.

Fresh off his record-setting 183-game victory at Wimbledon, John Isner visited "The Late Show with David Letterman" to deliver the Top Ten list on Monday night. The American received a rousing ovation from the studio audience before launching into the top-10 thoughts that went through his mind during his 11 hour match:

That was a pretty solid list, particularly Nos. 4 and 1.

No surprise that Isner is milking his 15 minutes of fame quite well. Heck, he probably deserves much more time in the spotlight than that.

FRANCE v SPAIN
Venue: Zenith – Grande Halle d’Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand (hard – indoors)

France
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Gael Monfils
Michael Llodra
Julien Benneteau
Captain: Guy Forget

Spain
Fernando Verdasco
David Ferrer
Nicolas Almagro
Feliciano Lopez
Captain: Albert Costa

RUSSIA v ARGENTINA
Venue: Olympic Stadium, Moscow (hard – indoors)

Russia
Nikolay Davydenko
Mikhail Youzhny
Teimuraz Gabashvili
Igor Kunitsyn
Captain: Shamil Tarpischev

Argentina
Horacio Zeballos
Eduardo Schwank
Leonardo Mayer
David Nalbandian
Captain: Tito Vazquez

CROATIA v SERBIA
Venue: Spaladium Arena, Split (hard – indoors)

Croatia
Marin Cilic
Ivan Ljubicic
Antonio Veic
Ivan Dodig
Captain: Goran Prpic

Serbia
Novak Djokovic
Viktor Troicki
Janko Tipsarevic
Nenad Zimonjic
Captain: Bogdan Obradovic

CHILE v CZECH REPUBLIC
Venue: Enjoy Tennis Center, Coquimbo (clay – outdoors)

Chile
Nicolas Massu
Jorge Aguilar
Paul Capdeville
Cristobal Saavedra
Captain: Hans Gildemeister

Czech Republic
Tomas Berdych
Jan Hajek
Lukas Dlouhy
Frantisek Cermak
Captain: Jaroslav Navratil

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP)—The San Diego Sports Arena has been chosen by the U.S. Tennis Association to host the Fed Cup final between the United States and Italy on Nov. 6-7.

The USTA announced its decision Tuesday.

San Diego was one of 10 cities that bid to stage the first Fed Cup final in the U.S. since 2000. Mayor Jerry Sanders calls it “a chance to showcase the vibrancy of this great city to the international community.”

The San Diego Sports Arena never has hosted Fed Cup matches, but it was the site of the 1989 Davis Cup quarterfinal between the U.S. and France.

Italy beat the U.S. in the 2009 Fed Cup final, which was played at Reggio Calabria, Italy.

WIMBLEDON, England (AP)—Unseeded Czech Petra Kvitova has defeated Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi 4-6, 7-6 (8), 8-6 to reach the Wimbledon semifinals.

The 62nd-ranked Kvitova saved five match points Tuesday against the 80th-ranked qualifier.

Kanepi squandered three match points in the second-set tiebreaker, including one with a double-fault, and another two in the 12th game of the final set.

The Estonian failed to serve out the match in the third set when leading 5-4 and also led 5-2 in the tiebreaker.

Kvitova will face top-seeded defending champion Serena Williams in the semis.

MADRID (AP)—Fernando Verdasco and David Ferrer will lead Spain in its Davis Cup quarterfinal against France next month.

Top-ranked Rafael Nadal will be missing for Spain in the best-of-five series in Clermont-Ferrand, France, while he rests his right knee. The seven-time Grand Slam winner wants to be fit for the year’s last major, the U.S. Open, which begins in late August.

Spain captain Albert Costa selected Verdasco, Ferrer, Nicolas Almagro and Feliciano Lopez on Tuesday for the July 9-11 match, which will be played indoors.

Verdasco, Ferrer and Lopez were all part of the Spain team that beat Argentina and the Czech Republic in the past two Davis Cup finals.

NEW YORK (AP)—Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi are renewing their rivalry—and in the Big Apple, no less. John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl, too.

Those four tennis greats—owners of a combined 37 Grand Slam titles—will participate in the 2011 BNP Paribas Showdown exhibition matches at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 28.

Sampras-Agassi will be best of three sets. McEnroe-Lendl will be one set of first to eight games.

Sampras and Agassi met in three U.S. Open finals in New York, with Sampras winning each time, including his first major title in 1990 and his 14th in 2002 — the last match of his career.

McEnroe won the U.S. Open four times, and Lendl three. They met for the title in 1984, with McEnroe winning, and the next year, when Lendl won.