Current World No. 4, Garbine Muguruza of Spain, won the maiden Grand Slam title of her career by defeating defending champion, Serena Williams of the United States, in two straight sets 7-5, 6-4 at the 2016 French Open in Paris, France on Saturday.

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"I can't explain with words how this day means to me. You work all your life to get here," the 22-year-old right-handed tennis ace said after beating the reigning WTA's world No. 1. "I want to really congratulate Serena because she's one of the best players."

The Spaniard made history with the win, becoming the first Spanish woman to bag the title since 1998, when Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario won the prestigious Paris-based premier clay-court championship.

According to the official website of the WTA, the win also improves the 2015 Wimbledon women's singles runner-up's current world rankings from No. 4 to second-best in the world.

Muguruza will be replacing Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland to claim the No. 2 spot while Williams, who fell short in tying the 22 Grand Slam titles won by the German Stefi Graf, held her spot at the top of the world rankings.

The defeat marked Williams' third successive loss to deny her a title in a major tournament. The 34-year-old was stunned by Italian Roberta Vinci in the U.S. Open semi-final round and also suffered defeat at the hands of Germany's Angelique Kerber in the Australian Open finals.

"I'm not one to ever make excuses and say, 'Oh my adductor was hurting or whatever,'" Williams, who was reported to have injury issues ahead of the finals match, said. "At the end of the day I didn't play the game I needed to play to win and she did.

"I think she has a bright future, obviously. She knows how to play on the big stage and she knows how to ... clearly she knows how to win grand slams." Williams added.

TagsGarbine Muguruza, serena williams, French Open, wta, roland garros, French Open 2016