Paris: Garbine Muguruza won her first Grand Slam title by beating champion Serena Williams 7-5, 6-4 at the French Open on Saturday. The fourth-seeded Muguruza, a 22-year-old from Spain, used her big groundstrokes to keep No. 1 Williams off-balance and overcame signs of nerves in the form of nine double-faults to pull off the surprise.
Muguruza dealt with Williams’ dangerous serves. This was Muguruza’s second major final; she lost to Williams at Wimbledon last year. But Muguruza has won her past two matches against Williams on the clay of Roland Garros, including in the second round in 2014.
Williams got No. 21 at Wimbledon in 2015, her fourth major title in a row. But since then, she has been facing defeats like in the semifinals at the U.S. Open by Roberta Vinci last September, in the final at the Australian Open by Angelique Kerber in January, and now by Muguruza.
This is the first time in Williams’ career she has lost back-to-back Grand Slam finals.