Serena denied in final
Muguruza upsets Williams in French Open, foils her bid to tie Grand Slam career wins mark
PARIS — The day before the French Open final, Serena Williams’ coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, was discussing whether his player would need to lift her level to beat Garbine Muguruza and collect a record-equaling 22nd Grand Slam title.
“I don’t know why everybody’s so impressed with Garbine,” Mouratoglou said. “Did she win a Slam ever?”
His comment, accompanied by a chuckle, was intended in a lighthearted way. About 24 hours later, his question required a new answer.
Muguruza won her first major trophy and prevented Williams yet again from collecting No. 22, outplaying the defending champion in a 7-5, 6-4 victory at Roland Garros on Saturday.
“She has a bright future, obviously,” said Williams, who at 34 is 12 years older than her Spanish opponent. “She knows how to play on the big stage and clearly, she knows how to win Grand Slams.”
The fourth-seeded Muguruza used her big groundstrokes to keep No. 1 Williams off-balance and overcame signs of nerves in the form of nine doublefaults. Most impressively, Muguruza broke Williams four times, including three in a row.
“I can’t explain with words what this day means to me,” Muguruza said.
This was her second major final; she lost to Williams at Wimbledon last year. But Muguruza has won her last two matches against Williams on the clay of Roland Garros, including in the second round in 2014. So dating to the start of the 2013 French Open, Williams is 0-2 in Paris against Muguruza, 21-0 against everyone else.
“The key? I just have a very aggressive game,” said Muguruza, whose three career tournament titles are 67 fewer than Williams’ total. “I go for my shots with no regrets.”
For Williams, whose timing was not exactly right much of the afternoon, Saturday’s loss postponed her pursuit of Steffi Graf ’s Open-era mark of 22 Grand Slam singles championships.
Margaret Court holds the all-time record of 24.