The wait continues: Serena Williams bows out of French Open 2021
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Serena Williams
The pursuit for a record 24th Grand Slam title continues for Serena Williams as she bows out of the 2021 French Open in the Fourth Round on Court Philippe Chatrier. 21st seed Elena Rybakina knocked out the American veteran in straight sets 6-3,7-5.
Williams won her 23rd grand slam at Melbourne in 2017 and since then has been gunning for a record equaling 24th. She has reached 4 finals and 2 semi finals since then but hasn’t been able to reach the finish line. This time in Paris, she had a realistic opportunity to go all the way as most of the top players were out of the tournament due to various reasons.
Williams was the highest left seed in her half of the draw, but yet again, she failed to create history. But all credit goes to Kazakh Elena Rybakina, who didn’t gave Serena any chance and has been having a dream tournament herself.
Elena Rybakina sees off Serena Williams
Rybakina was in control for the whole match, barring some moments. The players started off slowly, not taking too many risks and holding serve. But the Kazakh reached in the 4th game, breaking Serena and taking a decisive 4-1 lead. Although the American veteran broke in the 7th game, Rybakina broke back in the very next game and took the opening set 6-3.
Both the players were fired up in the next set, breaking each other upfront and holding serve thereafter. After a couple of exchange of breaks, they were drawn level at 5-5. Rybakina broke in the next game and took the set 7-5, thus ending Williams’ hope for a 24th Major.
As for Williams, she will take a couple of weeks off and be back in action at Wimbledon, again gunning for her 24th Grand Slam. Rybakina will move into the quarterfinals of Roland Garros where she will face 31st seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
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Lakshya Chopra
(2595 Articles Published)