2012 French Open: How Serena Williams Loss Affects the Rest of the Field

Serena Williams' shocking first-round loss has created quite the stir in the 2012 French Open bracket and is sure to have lasting effects as the tournament wears on.

Williams, a tournament favorite, was shocked by France's own Virginie Razzano. So what does this mean for the rest of the field? A few storylines are sure to emerge from this colossal upset.

A Cinderella Run for Virginie Razzano?

Unless you're a member of the Razzano family or an avid follower of women's tennis, you've probably never heard of Razzano before.

As the 115th-ranked women's tennis player in the world, she's not exactly a celebrity. However, after her astonishing upset of Serena Williams, Razzano now has a great opportunity to make a name for herself. It takes a special player to grind through a game against one of the world's best and come out on top, and Razzano will need to continue to do that if she wants to continue to advance.

One thing's for sure—she won't play an opponent of William's caliber in the next few rounds. A Round 2 matchup with Arantxa Rus awaits, and while she's a formidable opponent, she's only ranked 96th in the world.

If successful in her matchup with Rus, a likely matchup against 27th-ranked Julia Goerges awaits, but a run to the third round would be an improbably storyline for the hometown Razzano.

Maria Sharapova's Run to the Semi's Significantly Easier

Perhaps the woman happiest to see Williams defeated in the early going is Maria Sharapova. The Russian who is currently ranked as the No. 2 player in the world now has only one fellow top-10 player standing in her way of making it to the semis.

While Sharapova and Williams were on opposite ends of the bracket, it has to be nice to know that the only major threat to her advancement through the bracket is now Caroline Wozniacki.

Sharapova should continue to blast her way through the bracket and has to feel confident that she's a favorite without Williams.

Confidence For All the Underdogs

With the first major upset of the tournament out of the way, other underdogs have to feel as though they can be the next one to make headlines. The added pressure of one favorite finding a premature exit could be just enough for fellow underdogs to pull off similar feats.

It'll be interesting to see if there is any carryover effect throughout the tournament field following Razzano's upset victory.