Serena N'Est Parle Pas Plus Français Cette Année

A day after up-and-coming Kristina Mladenovic took out world No.2 and reigning Australian Open champion, Na Li, another rising star produced the shock of the tournament when she dismissed none other than the undisputed queen herself, American Serena Williams. Spanish Garbine Muguruza produced the performance of her lifetime to bruise aside the world No.1, 6-2,6-2.

Although Garbine has been pilling up great results this season—winning her maiden title in Hobart and reaching the fourth round in Melbourne—there was really nothing to announce this victory. The American seemed in solid form going into the meeting, having won in Rome just a week ago before crushing French teenager, Alizé Lim,  6-2,6-1 in the opening round. Plus, having lost in the fourth round Down Under, Williams was hungry to add another Grand Slam to her already impressive collection. And when she is hungry, there usually nothing standing in her way. Nothing but this talented, uninhibited Spanish player who took full advantage of her opponent’s error-strewn display to score the biggest win of her career. 

"It was one of those days," Williams said. "You know, you can't be on every day. I hate to be off during a Grand Slam, but it happens. It's not the end of the world. It is what it is.

"I love it here, but there's always next year. At least I won't have any points to defend next year, so I look forward to it.

"I'm going to go home and work five times as hard to make sure I never lose again."

What promised to be a family affair in the third round was quickly dismissed in a matter of hours, with both Williams sisters going out at more or less the same time—Venus lost a close battle to Slovakian teenager Anna Schmieldlova. 

Similar to what happen in 2012 when she was stunned by Virginie Razzano, Serena sees her Parisian adventure come to a sudden, early ending. It remains to be seen if she can make amends like she did last season when she went on to capture the title. The American did lose a bit of her invincibility this year, so I am curious how she will regroup for Wimbledon and if she will indeed fulfill her promise and go on to win the title. In the meantime, congrats to Garbine for keeping a clear head and closing out an amazing victory. It's never easy to beat Serena in a major!

A strong favourite to defend her crown, Serena saw her Parisian adventure come to an shocking end when she was defeated 6-2,6-2 by Spanish Garbine Muguruza.

While Serena was making tons of errors, Garbine remained focus and mentally strong to close out a pretty straight-forward win over her childhood idol.

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Ambitious Kiki Gets Biggest Win

France's young star Kristina Mladenovic has long been searching for a big breakthrough in singles. The two-time Grand Slam mixed-doubles champion is already a reputed doubles specialist, but Kiki has fallen behind in the last 12 months, being unable to establish herself as one of the leading ladies of the game.

So far this season has not been promising. In addition to winning the mixed-doubles title in Melbourne with Daniel Nestor, there's pretty much nothing to stand out in her resume. Nevertheless, tennis can be surprising at times, and sometime you get to win the lottery. All it takes is one great performance to put your career back on track. Just look at Halep's unbelievable rise after Rome 2013. Hopefully the same will happen with Mladenovic, who today stunned world No.2 and reigning Australian Open champion, Chinese Na Li, in the first round of the French Open.

"Look at this season. I went down in the rankings. I was in the Top 50 in the middle of last year, and I'm not longer in the Top 100. But it's only on paper. I've always believed in myself, and I still believed in myself today, and that's how I could put up such a good fight and play so well out there.

"I knew I had this in me. I'm very ambitious. I've never hidden that. And this is such a good win."

It was an extremely tough match for the Frenchwoman who held her nerve after a second set hiccup to eventually close out a 7-5,3-6,6-1 victory over her more prestigious opponent.

"It's definitely a huge thing for me, first round of a Grand Slam and at home at Roland Garros, and it's Li Na," Mladenovic said. "She's such a tough player, an amazing player, a Grand Slam champion. This is really big. You don’t beat Li Na every day."

Next up for Kiki is American Alison Riske and she the 2009 French Open junior champion is  determined to progress deep into the tournament. She has a huge game, a whipping serve and powerful groundstrokes on both wings. If she becomes more consistent, she can surely make the big jump. Hope she can keep up the momentum. Allez, Kiki!

Cheered by the partisan crowd, Kiki Mladenovic got the biggest win of her career, stunning world No.2 and reigning Australian Open champion, Chinese Na Li, 7-5,3-6,6-1 to progress to the second round of the French Open.

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Genie Wins Maiden Crown

After her dream run in Australia—where she reached her first Grand Slam semifinal—Genie Bouchard was expected to consolidate her place amongst the elite. Although she still lacks consistency, the young Canadian sensation has been pilling up great results lately. And with a ranking inside the top 20, it was just a matter of time before she would achieve that goal.

After a series of mixed performances on clay—highlighed by wins over Jelena Jankovic and Venus Williams en route to the semifinals in Charleston—Eugenie remained strong when it mattered most and managed to win her maiden WTA crown in Nürnberg. Seeded second at the start of the tournament, Bouchard did not drop a set until the final, bruising aside Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, Anastasia Rodionova, Yaroslava Shvedova, and Karin Knapp. In the final, she showed great nerves, recovering from the loss of the second set to eventually serve out a marathon 6-2,4-6,6-3 win over Czech Karolina Pliskova.

"Today it was important to just keep at it," said the Canadian. "She's a great player, and she can be very dangerous at times, so I'm really glad I stayed with it and kept fighting for it during the third set.

"This is kind of like a stepping stone for me. Winning a WTA title is of course a goal I've had, and I'm so happy to accomplish it, but I still want to achieve more - more titles, bigger titles—so this is a step in the right direction, and it's part of the dream, but I want to move forward and keep going from here.

"I love Nürnberg. This city will always be special to me because it's where I won my first title."

This triumph represents a huge confidence booster ahead of the French Open scheduled to start in just a few hours. She may not be the most natural clay-court player on the tour, but Genie has the game and the mental strength to cause a few upsets in Paris. Being the charismatic person that she is, the Canadian will surely be a fan favourite at this year's Roland Garros. Go, Genie!

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Time to Say Goodbye: Battling Safina Exits the Battlefield

Long known as Marat Safin's little sister, ambitious Dinara started to make a name for herself in 2008 when she stunned a few of the world's best to claim the title in Berlin. Amongst her victims were none others than the world No.1 and undisputed queen of clay, Justine Henin—who would go on and shock the world by announcing her first retirement after that match—her soon-to-become biggest rival, American Serena Williams, Vika Azarenka, respectively Elena Dementieva, in the final. 

That week saw the birth of Dinara Safina, one of the game's biggest hitters. Nothing was the same after Berlin. It was like Dinara was a completely different player. She carried on the huge momentum into the French Open, beating her more famous compatriots, Maria Sharapova, Elena Dementieva, and Svetlana Kuznetsova to reach her first Grand Slam final. Nerves took their toll and the Russian ended up succumbing to the inspired Ana Ivanovic who won in straight sets.
Safina remained focus on the positives and the great performances kept pilling up, as she won titles in Los Angeles, Montreal, and Tokyo. She also won the silver medal at the Beijing Olympics, losing a tough battle against Dementieva. That was probably the time she got labelled as a bit of a mental wreak, the Russian lacking the strength to conquer the really important trophies. Her quick dismissal at the hands of Serena Williams in the 2009 Australian Open final didn't do much for her reputation—especially as she won just three games on that occasion.

Safina really caught fire in the spring of 2009. After losing to Kuznetsova in the Stuttgart final, the Russian would go on a 17-match winning streak that saw her collect titles in Rome and Madrid, reach the world No.1 on April 20th, and make her second consecutive final at the French Open. With Serena Williams out of the way, Dinara looked poised to grab the elusive Slam. But for the first time in such an important final she was the big favourite and that really worked against her. Her weak mental strength surfaced once more and she ended up almost gifting the trophy to Svetlana Kuznetsova. This defeat was, I believe, the beginning of the end for Safina. 

Hindered by injuries, the Russian slowly drifted away from the top of the rankings. The remainder of 2009 was pretty miserable, the only highlights being the semifinal at Wimbledon, the final in Cincinnati, and the title in Portoroz—which would be the 12th and last trophy of her short-lived career.

Battling a recurring back injury, Dinara was just a shadow of herself throughout 2010. Early exits and extensive recovery breaks pretty much sum up the season. She came back in 2011 and tried to give it one more try, but her ailing body had the final say. After an early exit in Madrid, the Russian decided to take an indefinite break. In October that year, Marat announced that his sister would not be returning to the tour. After years of silence, Safina made the official announcement this month, She was honored at the Mutua Madrid Open, a tournament she won on its first edition.

Although her career was short-lived, Dinara Safina will always be remembered for her stellar achievements. She emerged from his brother's shadow to become the best player in the world. Although she did not win a Grand Slam in singles, she is amongst the very select few who held the No.1 spot. Thank you, Dinara for all the great lessons you'd taught us and the best of luck going forward! It's always sad to part ways, but I am sure this is not the last we've heard from this ambitious lady.

A look back at Dinara's golden career

Before establishing herself as a singles player, Dinara Safina was a veritable doubles expert. In 2007, she teamed up with Nathalie Dechy to claim her sole Grand Slam title at the US Open.

Berlin 2008 witnessed the birth of Dinara Safina. The Russian beat Justine Henin, Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka, and Elena Dementieva to claim the most important title of her career.

Keeping up the stunning form, Safina bruised aside her more famous compatriots, Sharapova, Dementieva, and Kuznetsova to reach her maiden Grand Slam final at the French Open. She lost to Ana Ivanovic.

She continued to pill up great results during the summer. In Los Angeles, she beat Italian Flavia Pennetta for the title.

She bagged a second consecutive title, dismissing Dominika Cibulkova in Montreal.

The winning streak came to an end in the Olympic final, her compatriot, Elena Dementieva, winning the gold medal after a dramatic battle.

The fourth and final title of what has been an amazing breakthrough season came in Tokyo where she defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final.

In 2009, Dinara teamed up with brother Marat to reach the final of the Hopman Cup. They lost the championship battle to Slovaks Dominika Cibulkova and Dominik Hrbaty.

Her nerves once again prevented her from playing her best tennis in the 2009 Australian Open final. She would win just three games against her nemesis, American Serena Williams.

A week after losing to Kuznetsova in the Stuttgart final, Dinara got her revenge. She dismissed her compatriot in the Rome final to claim her first title of the season.

She carried on the winning streak to Madrid where she defeated Dane Caroline Wozniacki for the title. 

The 2009 Roland Garros was Safina's chance to slap the critics and claim the elusive Grand Slam title. Riding on a 17-match winning streak, the Russian once again fell victim to her nerves and ended up losing the final to Kuznetsova.

Dinara knew she'd hit rock bottom when she lost to a player twice her age in the first round at the 2010 French Open. Although she won the first set, she had no answer to Kimiko Date's inspired play. 

Determined to battle injury and recapture her place amongst the elite, the Russian was cruelly humiliated by Kim Clijsters who double-bagelled her in the first round of the 2011 Australian Open. A few months later, Dinara hang up her racquet.

After years of being sidelined by a nasty back injury, the Russian announced her official retirement from professional tennis. The ceremony took place at the Mutua Madrid Open, a tournament she won on its first edition.

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