PARIS - A loss by Venus Williams in the first round at a Grand Slam is no longer the rarity it once was.
And, as it happens, the woman who beat Williams at the French Open on Tuesday, Sloane Stephens, is making a concerted effort to focus less on who is on the other side of the net.
Still, it was hard not to see the 22-year-old Stephens' 7-6 (5), 6-1 dismissal of seven-time major champion Williams as a statement about the directions their careers are heading.
For the 15th-seeded Williams, it was her second opening defeat in three years at Roland Garros.
It also was the fifth time in the last 13 Grand Slam tournaments she's entered she has exited in the first round. Before that, it happened once in 37 majors.