The upset of a 13-time Grand Slam winner during the first week of the Roland Garros 2012 tournament deserves a headline. After all, Serena Williams has been touted as a heavy favorite, in fact a sure one, to win this year’s French Open. This can be attributed to her 17-0 claycourt record this season which makes her very fit to win the second Slam event of the year. However, it wasn’t how things went during her first round match.
Her opponent, 28-year old Virginie Razzano of France held on to her self-belief that she can beat one of the best female tennis players of all time by holding on to her third set lead and eventually winning a 4-6, 7-6, 6-3 history-setting achievement against the former world number one.
Williams has not lost a match in a first round stage at a Major event, except now. In the post-match inteview, Williams said that there’s “no excuse” for having loss a match she should have handily won in straight sets.
“I’m always a little nervous in every match I play, which I think is a little bit healthy. I think it’s normal. I was definitely a little nervous. But, yeah, there’s no excuse maybe,” she said.
Despite the loss, Williams said that she’s not depressed with the loss considering that a year ago she almost had a career-ending injury that may have cost her life as well.
“It’s life,” Williams said.
“Things could be a lot worse. I haven’t had the easiest past six months. Nothing I can’t deal with. I’m not happy, by no means. I just always think things can be worse,” she added.
