Tennis: Serena Williams knocked out in French Open second round

(Updated 9:27pm) PARIS - Defending champion and world No.1 Serena Williams suffered a crushing 6-2 6-2 defeat by Spain's Garbine Muguruza in the second round of the French Open on Wednesday to follow her elder sister Venus out of the second grand slam of the year.

On a chilly day in Paris, Serena never looked the force that has won 17 major titles. Her 20-year-old opponent broke the American's serve twice early in the first set and made the most of a series of unforced errors by Williams.

The 35th ranked Spaniard kept up the pressure and the match turned out to be a repeat of the nightmare of 2012, when Williams lost in the first round, rather than the glory of 2013 when she beat Maria Sharapova in the final here.

A netted return from Williams sent the Spaniard into ecstasy and even Williams's mother, Oracene, smiled as Muguruza leapt about the court. "Of course, it's amazing," Muguruza said. "I had to be really aggressive and focused.

"Today is a great day. I'm so happy," she shouted.

Serena said: "It was just one of those days, you can't be on [your game] every day. It's not the end of the world, there's always next year." - Reuters