Sunday 5 June 2016 18:39, UK
Garbine Muguruza upset Serena Williams in the French Open final to deny the world No 1 equalling Steffi Graf's Open era record of 22 Grand Slam titles.
The top seed and world No 1 had been out-of-sorts all week in the cold, damp conditions that have dogged the tournament and could not match the fourth seed in the power department as Muguruza claimed a sensational 7-5 6-4 victory.
Williams fought bitterly to hold onto her crown, saving four match points in a dramatic penultimate game, but Muguruza was not to be denied.
When her final outrageous lob landed smack on the baseline, Muguruza collapsed to the dirt while Williams applauded.
Muguruza became the first Spanish winner of a Grand Slam title since Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in Paris in 1998 and she is the third straight first-time Grand Slam winner after Flavia Pennetta at last year's US Open and Angelique Kerber at the Australian Open.
"I am so excited to play the final of a Grand Slam against one of the best ever players. It's the perfect final and I am so happy," said the Venezuelan-born Spaniard.
"Serena is a very powerful player and I just tried to fight as hard as I can.
"I can't explain with words what this day means to me, and that for Spain and for me this is just amazing."
Williams once again failed to make tennis history at Roland Garros and move level with the great German after falling short to Kerber in Melbourne in January.
With weather conditions improving after one of the rainiest Roland Garros tournaments on record, it was a different, more focussed Williams that got the final underway with a love service game.
Her opponent replied as two of the biggest and best servers in the women's game went toe-to-toe.
The 22-year-old had to battle hard to level at 2-2, saving two break points along the way, but she then grabbed the first break of the final thanks to a loose game from the American culminating in a double fault.
Muguruza, who lost to Williams in the Wimbledon final last year, moved 4-2 ahead, but she lost her range two games later to allow the top seed and three-time Roland Garros champion to level up.
The tall Spaniard was matching Williams with a range of groundstrokes and when the title-holder opened the 11th game with a double fault she seized the opportunity to apply some added pressure on her opponent.
Her tactics paid off with Williams failing to cope with a series of explosive baseline forehands and backhands.
Muguruza's second break of the final allowed her to serve for the set and she duly managed that, staving off two break-back points along the way.
A high quality first set had taken 56 minutes with Muguruza winning 41 points to 40 for Williams underlining the tightness of the contest.
Muguruza maintained her level of play and composure to start the second set with a third break of serve, but she then struggled on her own serve, coughing up a seventh double fault to hand back the advantage.
Williams though was struggling and this time it was the quality of her opponent's play rather than her own misgivings that were the main cause for her struggles.
Muguruza made it three straight breaks of serve in the next game and moved out into a 3-1 lead.
Williams dug deep to get back to 3-2 sparking a scream of defiance from a player who had been in 26 Grand Slam finals dating back to 1999 - losing just five of them.
But Muguruza was solid on her serve despite the occasional double fault and the Spaniard went 4-2 and then 5-3 up.
Williams saved four match points in the next game to stay alive, but Muguruza stayed calm to serve out for the biggest win of her fledgling career.
Less than four months short of her 35th birthday, Williams' aura of invincibility has slipped noticeably.
She remains the clear world No 1 and will certainly be the favourite to retain her Wimbledon title but overtaking Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 slam crowns no longer seems the inevitability it did 12 months ago.
"Congratulations to Garbine, she played really well today," said Williams, who confirmed that she had been slightly troubled by an adductor problem.
"I could have served better, made a lot of errors on return, but I did try hard out there."
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