- American loses 6-3, 7-5 to Elena Rybakina at Roland Garros
- Williams was only top-20 player left in her half of the draw
The only certainty in the bottom half of the women’s singles draw at the French Open this year is the thrill of uncertainty. On Sunday afternoon, the final top 30 player in the section fell and it was the most successful of them all as Serena Williams was thoroughly outplayed by a new young Kazakh star called Elena Rybakina, losing 6-3, 7-5.
With Williams’ defeat, Rybakina, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Tamara Zidansek or Paula Badosa will be the new Roland Garros finalist from their half of the draw. None of them have ever braved a grand slam semi-final and only Pavlyuchenkova has contested a quarter-final.
