The 27-year-old is on the wrong end of a 16-2 head-to-head record against the American with her only two triumphs coming in 2004, the first of which saw her crowned Wimbledon champion. Williams crashed out 6-1, 3-6, 4-6 against France’s Alize Cornet in the third round on Saturday, her earliest exit at Wimbledon since losing in the same round in 2005. Her defeat came a day after Chinese two-times Grand Slam winner Na was dumped out 6-7(5) 6-7(5) by the Czech Republic’s Barbora Zahlavova Strycova. Their defeats have opened the door for a host of women, but the top of that list is Sharapova. Players have long talked about the difficulty of adapting to the grasscourts of Wimbledon so soon after a long claycourt season and nobody has backed up winning the French Open with Wimbledon triumph since Williams in 2002. Sharapova’s form, however, suggests she can match that achievement and win her sixth grand slam in the process.