The highest-seeded U.S. woman was beaten in her match against Virginie Razzano at Roland Garros, marking the first time Serena Williams has ever lost in the first round of a French Open — or any Grand Slam.
After winning the first set, 6-4, Williams, the No 5 seed, began to spiral down after failing to capture a tiebreak in the second set. Razzano won the second and third sets of the match to advance.
She had jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second set tiebreak before Razzano tied and eventually won the set.
After falling behind 5-0 in the third, Williams battled back to 5-3 but could not dig out of such a deep hole in the decisive set.
Razzano, from France, was ranked 111th in the world entering the match.
Information from Espn.com contributed to this report.
