What Serena Williams’ Loss to Garbine Muguruza Means for Wimbledon 2016

Serena Williams’ quest for a second straight French Open title came up just short as the world’s top-ranked player was defeated by Garbine Muguruza in the championship match.

It represented a rare occasion where Williams was outplayed. The 22-year-old Spanish rising star showed no signs of being concerned about the top seed’s immense power, instead using that pace to set herself up for a wide variety of winners, from lasers down the line to easy putaways at net.

There will be questions about how much an adductor injury impacted the defending champion’s play, but she shrugged off the issue afterward, per Christopher Clarey of the New York Times.

“Adductor or not, she played to win, and that’s what she did,” Williams said.

The loss marks the third straight Grand Slam tournament in which Williams has not won dating back to last year’s U.S. Open. It also raises a few questions about where the 34-year-old’s game is at right now with a quick turnaround heading into Wimbledon at the end of June. 

After a slow start to 2016—at least by her lofty standards—Williams appeared to be turning things around heading into Roland Garros with a victory at the Italian Open. Her competition in Italy wasn’t great, as Svetlana Kuznetsova was the only seeded opponent she went up against. She defeated Madison Keys in the finals. 

That …

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