French Open 2016: Past matches against Serena helped me win final, says champion Muguruza

Still stuck on 21 grand slam titles, one short of Steffi Graf, Serena Williams lost 7-5, 6-4 to fourth-seeded Garbine Muguruza at the French Open Women's finals on Saturday.

Muguruza traded powerful groundstrokes with Williams to beat her for the second time in three years at Roland Garros.

In 2014, Muguruza had handed Williams the worst loss of her Grand Slam career with a 6-2, 6-2 victory in the second round.

"I'm so excited. To play a final of a grand slam against one of the best players, I'm so happy. Serena's a very powerful player so I had to be ready and concentrate on all the points. I just tried to fight as much as I can. All the matches I played against her (in the past) helped me," Muguruza said in her victory speech.

Fourteen-time men's singles major winner Rafael Nadal tweeted, "Congrats Garbine for your win at Roland Garros. Great news for Spanish tennis!"

Garbine Muguruza is the first Spanish woman to win at Roland Garros since Arantxa Sanchez Vicario beat Monica Seles in the final in 1998.

-ANI