"The intimidation factor is not there" - Wilander on Serena Williams losing

Serena Williams' shock Wimbledon defeat may have had its roots in her losing her "intimidation factor", believes Mats Wilander.

On her comeback from injury after a year out, Williams succumbed in three sets to world No. 113 Harmony Tan of France, whose varied style caused the American problems throughout on Centre Court. Wilander thinks the reason is more than just not playing much in recent times. He explained:

"The intimidation factor I don't think is there anymore. It used to be, but I don't think these younger players are that intimidated anymore by her [Williams] because they haven't seen her win as much."

He continued:

"And I actually think Tan was a nightmare opponent for Serena. I think she [Williams] would have much rather played somebody who hits the ball harder, and maybe makes a few more mistakes because Tan doesn't make too many mistakes. She had a perfect game plan, so she must have talked about that with [coach and former Wimbledon finalist] Nathalie Tauziat."

On Serena, he added:

"I think maybe Serena needs a few more matches. It looked like when it got close in the end the confidence was maybe not there. I'm not saying that she got nervous necessarily, but if you haven't played more matches, you can't really trust yourself. She hit a couple of drop shots on very big points and she must probably think 'why, what did I do that for?'"