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| Serena Williams says ‘nothing worked’ in French Open second-round defeat | Serena Williams says ‘nothing worked’ in French Open second-round defeat |
| (3 months later) | |
| The French Open slid towards anarchy on the fourth day. The defending champion and world No1 Serena Williams is out, as is her sister, Venus, joining the No2 seed Li Na, as well as the Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka, the game’s glamour boy, Grigor Dimitrov, and Japan’s latest hope, Kei Nishikori, who had already left gaping holes in the men’s draw. | The French Open slid towards anarchy on the fourth day. The defending champion and world No1 Serena Williams is out, as is her sister, Venus, joining the No2 seed Li Na, as well as the Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka, the game’s glamour boy, Grigor Dimitrov, and Japan’s latest hope, Kei Nishikori, who had already left gaping holes in the men’s draw. |
| Serena’s departure means the top two seeds are gone from the draw after two rounds, the earliest such high-class cull in the tournament’s history. In a summer of doubt, the only certainty in tennis would seem to be that the next surprise is not far away. | Serena’s departure means the top two seeds are gone from the draw after two rounds, the earliest such high-class cull in the tournament’s history. In a summer of doubt, the only certainty in tennis would seem to be that the next surprise is not far away. |
| Williams might still be the best player in the world. And she could yet add to her collection of 17 grand slam titles, her next opportunity arriving at Wimbledon in June. But the 32-year-old American looked anything but a champion in Paris, either during her desultory 6-2, 6-2 second-round defeat by the 20-year-old Spaniard Garbiñe Muguruza, when she was near tears towards the end – or in a press conference afterwards that had all the buzz of a coroner’s inquest. | Williams might still be the best player in the world. And she could yet add to her collection of 17 grand slam titles, her next opportunity arriving at Wimbledon in June. But the 32-year-old American looked anything but a champion in Paris, either during her desultory 6-2, 6-2 second-round defeat by the 20-year-old Spaniard Garbiñe Muguruza, when she was near tears towards the end – or in a press conference afterwards that had all the buzz of a coroner’s inquest. |
| Serena – who would not blame injury or the occasional gusts of wind on a grey day for her error-strewn tennis – looked beat, sounded exasperated and, once she had tetchily batted away questions about the most disappointing performance of her career, could not wait to leave a place where she has won two of her slam titles. | Serena – who would not blame injury or the occasional gusts of wind on a grey day for her error-strewn tennis – looked beat, sounded exasperated and, once she had tetchily batted away questions about the most disappointing performance of her career, could not wait to leave a place where she has won two of her slam titles. |
| In an opening few days of rumbling upsets, hers was by some way the biggest: in 288 slam matches, Williams has never won fewer games than the four she eked out against Muguruza, who is 35 in the world and took just two games off her when they last met, which was in the 2013 Australian Open. | In an opening few days of rumbling upsets, hers was by some way the biggest: in 288 slam matches, Williams has never won fewer games than the four she eked out against Muguruza, who is 35 in the world and took just two games off her when they last met, which was in the 2013 Australian Open. |
| Across Roland Garros there is now a mood of insurrection, lightened only by regulation wins later in the afternoon for Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal play on Thursday against unranked opponents, respectively the Australian Marinko “Mad Dog” Matosevic and the highly promising Austrian Dominic Thiem, and will be hoping that this nonsense will cease. | |
| Serena, meanwhile, has some damage to repair. “I don’t think anything worked for me today,” she said. “Garbiñe played really well, really smart. I didn’t adapt.” | Serena, meanwhile, has some damage to repair. “I don’t think anything worked for me today,” she said. “Garbiñe played really well, really smart. I didn’t adapt.” |
| However, worrying as the defeat was, of rather more concern are her prospects for the rest of the summer and, if there is no quick return to her best, what remains of her wonderful career. “I just feel like I don’t have to win another match,” she said. “I don’t have to win another tournament. Everything and every day is a bonus for me. | |
| “Obviously I want to do the best and I want to win and I want to be the best. That’s my whole goal,” she said. “But it’s great sometimes to get knocked down because you have to get back up. I love getting back up. I love the challenge.” | “Obviously I want to do the best and I want to win and I want to be the best. That’s my whole goal,” she said. “But it’s great sometimes to get knocked down because you have to get back up. I love getting back up. I love the challenge.” |
| When Serena is not in the mood to expand on her thinking, she is quick to let her inquisitors know. “Can we just have one more question?” she said. “I’m really frustrated. My first few months [since going out early at the Australian Open] I don’t think have been great at all. I haven’t gotten past the fourth round of a grand slam this year. I have a couple of words to describe it, but I think that would be really inappropriate so I’m going to leave it at that.” | When Serena is not in the mood to expand on her thinking, she is quick to let her inquisitors know. “Can we just have one more question?” she said. “I’m really frustrated. My first few months [since going out early at the Australian Open] I don’t think have been great at all. I haven’t gotten past the fourth round of a grand slam this year. I have a couple of words to describe it, but I think that would be really inappropriate so I’m going to leave it at that.” |
| And with that she was gone. She was not alone in her despond, though. Venus also tumbled out of the tournament, not long before Serena’s match, when she failed to build on a promising start against the talented young Slovak, Anna Schmiedlova, who beat her in the first match of the day, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. | And with that she was gone. She was not alone in her despond, though. Venus also tumbled out of the tournament, not long before Serena’s match, when she failed to build on a promising start against the talented young Slovak, Anna Schmiedlova, who beat her in the first match of the day, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. |
| Serena and Venus were due to meet in the next round. Instead, their last memory of the 2014 French Open is sharing a limousine off site – as they did here in 2008, and at Wimbledon in 2011. It is as well they are the best of friends. | Serena and Venus were due to meet in the next round. Instead, their last memory of the 2014 French Open is sharing a limousine off site – as they did here in 2008, and at Wimbledon in 2011. It is as well they are the best of friends. |