A disappointed Serena Williams has brushed aside any injury concerns following her straight sets loss to Garbine Muguruza at the French Open.
The world No.1 was on the verge of making history before being outplayed by the world No.4 at Roland Garros. The 34-year-old was only win away from achieving an historic trio. She had the chance to become the oldest French Open champion, the first woman to win back-to-back titles since Justin Henin in 2007 and equal Steffi Graf’s grand slam record of 22 titles.
The milestones failed to be achieved as the American struggled to keep up with the rapid pace set by Muguruza. Going into the match, it was revealed that the world No.1 has been troubled by an abductor issue and she had received treatment on it. Despite this, Williams stated that it wasn’t the reason for her loss.
“It was okay. I’m not one to ever make excuses and say, ‘Oh, my adductor was hurting’ or whatever.” The world No.1 said.
“I think at the end of the day I didn’t play the game I needed to play to win and she did.”
The reflective 34-year-old finds herself in a new situation. After winning four consecutive grand slam titles between 2014-2015, she has suffered back-to-back losses in a major final for the first time in her career. It is the biggest sign yet that Williams is starting to let go of some of her dominance in the women’s game. Unfortunately, there is no easy solution for the 21-time grand slam champion.
“I think in Australia, Ann Kerber made 16 errors in three sets, you know, so what do you do in that situation? Today Garbiñe played unbelievable.” She said about her performance in grand slam finals this year.
“The only thing I can do is just keep trying.”
It isn’t the first time that Williams has lost at the French Open to Muguruza. In 2014 she suffered a shock second round loss to the Spanish player. Two year’s later Muguruza will now rise to No.2 in the world after winning at Roland Garros, claiming only the third title in her career. Speaking about the development of Muguruza’s game, Williams has high hopes for the 22-year-old in the future.
“I think she has a bright future, obviously. She knows how to play on the big stage and she knows how to — clearly she knows how to win Grand Slams.” The world No.1 said about Muguruza’s potential.
“She’s definitely hitting hard,”
“She just goes for broke on every shot and it works for her.”
Regardless of her latest loss, Williams will still remain at the top of the rankings with a 1564-point lead. Currently the 34-year-old hasn’t entered any tournaments within the next three weeks, meaning that she may not return to the tour until the start of the Wimbledon Championships on June 27th.
