Tennis:Pre-tournament favourite and 13-times Grand Slam champion Serena Williams slumped to a shock 4-6 7-6 6-3 defeat against Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano in the first round of the French Open.
The fifth-seeded American was two points from victory at 5-1 up in the second set tiebreak but her game inexplicably collapsed as she lost six points in a row to lose the set.
Razzano, ranked 111th, held her nerve in the ninth game of the final set which lasted 25 minutes to win the contest on her eighth match point, handing Williams her first ever first round defeat at a Grand Slam.
Earlier in the day Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitovaraced into the second round with a 6-1 6-2 victory over Australian teenager Ashleigh Barty.
It was a meeting between the senior and junior champions from SW19 last year, but the 16-year-old will have to chalk it off as valuable experience on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
Kvitova had been troubled by an abdominal injury in Rome two weeks ago but showed no signs of that, as she cruised through to a second-round meeting with either Pauline Parmentier or Urszula Radwanska.
The fourth seed is considered much more of a threat on faster surfaces, with her best performances at Roland Garros so far being two fourth-round appearances.
Second seed Maria Sharapovadid not drop a game as she raced into the second round. The Russian took just 48 minutes to sweep aside Romania's Alexandra Cadantu 6-0 6-0 in a clinical display.
The Roland Garros title is the only grand slam to elude Sharapova during her career and she ensured her latest tilt started with the minimum of fuss.
The 25-year-old overpowered Cadantu, hitting 18 winners to none, to consign the world number 75 to a double bagel on her French Open debut.
Sharapova will meet Japan's Ayumi Morita, the world number 84, in the second round.