Serena, Osaka fall in stunners

Williams’ quest on hold; No. 1 player’s Slam streak ends

PARIS — Serena Williams’ quest for a 24th Grand Slam title ended with her earliest loss at a major tournament in five years.

Williams was outplayed in the third round of the French Open by 20-yearold American Sofia Kenin, who used clean, deep groundstrokes to put together the 6-2, 7-5 upset Saturday.

“In that first set, in particular, she hit pretty much inches from the line, and I haven’t played anyone like that in a long time,” Williams said. “I just saw a player that was playing unbelievable.”

It was the second significant surprise in a matter of hours: Earlier in the day, No. 1 seed Naomi Osaka was eliminated 6-4, 6-2 by 42nd-ranked Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic. That ended Osaka’s 16-match Grand Slam winning streak, which included titles at the U.S. Open final in September — when she beat Williams in the final — and at the Australian Open in January.

Osaka was trying to become the first woman to win three consecutive major trophies since Williams grabbed four in a row in 2014-15, a run that was preceded by a secondround loss at Roland Garros and a third-round loss at Wimbledon.

Since those early-forher defeats, Williams had won six of the 14 majors she entered to surpass Steffi Graf’s professionalera record of 22 Grand Slam singles championships. With 23, Williams stands one away from Margaret Court’s mark for the most in tennis history; Court played in both the professional and amateur eras.

Williams, who’s 37, sat out four Slams in 2017-18 while she was off the tour to have a baby. Her first major tournament back was last year’s French Open, where she withdrew before a fourthround match because of a chest muscle injury. She went on to reach the finals of Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, before wasting match points during a quarterfinal loss at the Australian Open.

Williams came to Paris having played only four matches since then; she withdrew from two tournaments because of an injured left knee and another because of illness.

Williams had said she considered not entering the French Open at all.

“I’m glad I came, at the end of the day,” she said, “but it’s been a really grueling season for me.”

She struggled through her opening match at the French Open, which she has won three times, and again against the 35thranked Kenin, who never before had made it to the round of 16 at a major.

Like Williams, who dropped eight of the match’s first 10 games, Osaka couldn’t muster a comeback after falling way behind.

Osaka said Saturday she felt tired and was dealing with a headache.

The first tennis player from Japan to be ranked No. 1 spoke about eyeing a third consecutive major title — and moving halfway to a true Grand Slam.

“It’s weird, but I think me losing is probably the best thing that could have happened,” the 21-yearold Osaka said. “I think I was overthinking this calendar Slam. For me, this is something that I have wanted to do forever.”