11.55 p.m. EST January 18, 2014 Since reasserting herself atop the tennis world in the middle of 2012, the only woman to beat Serena Williams in a Grand Slam has been Serena Williams. That’s no longer the case.

Ana Ivanovic, the 2008 French Open champion who has made exactly one quarterfinal in the 22 majors since she won in Roland Garros, stood toe-to-toe with the world No. 1 and delivered a stunning 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory that ended Serena’s Grand Slam chance and gave the American an early exit from Melbourne for the third consecutive time. The loss snapped a 25-match winning streak for the 17-time Grand Slam champion.

Most surprising was that Ivanovic won the match by beating Serena at her own power game. She hit 20 forehand winners to Serena’s two. She returned Serena’s powerful serve with ease, giving herself 14 break opportunities during the match. Ivanovic, a player who’s snatched defeat from the jaws of victory countless times over the past five years, was even able to hold her serve with ease when victory was close. Even after Serena held with a dominant game at 2-5 in the third and everyone in Rod Laver Stadium could feel a slight momentum shift, Ivanovic clinched the match with a service game at love.

In Serena’s last two major losses — to Sloane Stephens in the 2013 Australian Open and to Sabine Lisicki at Wimbledon later that year — she did more to lose than her opponents did to win. And, to be fair, she didn’t play well against Ivanovic. Her balance was off and her footwork non-existent. In her post-match press conference, she spoke of a nagging back injury, though she gave all credit to Ivanovic. Serena isn’t usually one to give excuses, especially when the best explanation for her Sunday loss is more simple than that.

On this particular afternoon, injury or not, she wasn’t the best player on the court. It’s not often Serena Williams can say that at a Grand Slam.