The defending champion Serena Williams, as near to tears in public as is dignified for an international sports star, tumbled out of the French Open in straight sets on Wednesday, just hours after the less shocking exit of her sister, Venus.
They had been scheduled to meet in the third round had they won. Instead, their conquerors, the 35th seed Garbiñe Muguruza, of Spain, and the talented young Slovak, Anna Schmiedlova, who came from behind to beat Venus 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, will play in that match on Friday. They also went out on the same day here four years ago, and at Wimbledon in 2011.
Serena – whose only first-round loss in a slam was at Roland Garros two years ago – was helpless to resist the exuberant tennis of Muguruza, who won 6-2, 6-2 in 64 minutes.
Venus, who has struggled with poor health for several years, started strongly but her tennis began to falter under the youthful challenge of Schmiedlova, who had reached the second round with a fine, fighting win over Jie Zheng, of China. So the top two seeds are gone from the draw after just two rounds, Li Na having lost on Tuesday.
Williams, the world No1, has won this title twice, in 2002 when she beat Venus, and last year against Maria Sharapova. She had never failed to get out of the first round of a grand slam as top seed, and might now be concerned about her prospects at Wimbledon.
She moved sluggishly throughout and, although fighting to the end, was clearly distraught at her inability to keep the ball in play and racked up 28 unforced errors. At one point in the penultimate game, she shook visibly before serving and seemed on the point of collapse, but she gathered her composure to finish.
Although Williams has had problems with a left thigh this season, withdrawing during the Madrid tournament, she won in Rome last week and wore no strapping for this match.
“It’s amazing,” Muguruza said of by far the biggest win of her career. “I didn’t expect that. But I played very, very good. I am really happy. My plan was to be very aggressive and I think I did it very well. Now I have a big opportunity, and every match is very difficult here, but today is a great day.”
Her mother is from Venezuela, her father is Spanish but on Wednesday she owned Paris.
Source: The Guardian