Serena N'Est Parle Pas Plus Français Cette Année

A day after up-and-coming Kristina Mladenovic took out world No.2 and reigning Australian Open champion, Na Li, another rising star produced the shock of the tournament when she dismissed none other than the undisputed queen herself, American Serena Williams. Spanish Garbine Muguruza produced the performance of her lifetime to bruise aside the world No.1, 6-2,6-2.

Although Garbine has been pilling up great results this season—winning her maiden title in Hobart and reaching the fourth round in Melbourne—there was really nothing to announce this victory. The American seemed in solid form going into the meeting, having won in Rome just a week ago before crushing French teenager, Alizé Lim,  6-2,6-1 in the opening round. Plus, having lost in the fourth round Down Under, Williams was hungry to add another Grand Slam to her already impressive collection. And when she is hungry, there usually nothing standing in her way. Nothing but this talented, uninhibited Spanish player who took full advantage of her opponent’s error-strewn display to score the biggest win of her career. 

"It was one of those days," Williams said. "You know, you can't be on every day. I hate to be off during a Grand Slam, but it happens. It's not the end of the world. It is what it is.

"I love it here, but there's always next year. At least I won't have any points to defend next year, so I look forward to it.

"I'm going to go home and work five times as hard to make sure I never lose again."

What promised to be a family affair in the third round was quickly dismissed in a matter of hours, with both Williams sisters going out at more or less the same time—Venus lost a close battle to Slovakian teenager Anna Schmieldlova. 

Similar to what happen in 2012 when she was stunned by Virginie Razzano, Serena sees her Parisian adventure come to a sudden, early ending. It remains to be seen if she can make amends like she did last season when she went on to capture the title. The American did lose a bit of her invincibility this year, so I am curious how she will regroup for Wimbledon and if she will indeed fulfill her promise and go on to win the title. In the meantime, congrats to Garbine for keeping a clear head and closing out an amazing victory. It's never easy to beat Serena in a major!

A strong favourite to defend her crown, Serena saw her Parisian adventure come to an shocking end when she was defeated 6-2,6-2 by Spanish Garbine Muguruza.

While Serena was making tons of errors, Garbine remained focus and mentally strong to close out a pretty straight-forward win over her childhood idol.

photos: GETTY IMAGES