Largely on the strength of a quarterfinal run at the 2008 French Open, Navarro climbed to a world ranking of 46. Yet, the young Spaniard–playing in her very first Aussie Open–did not figure to cause the slightest bit of trouble for the elder Williams sister. Navarro won only six singles matches since her French Open joyride. The owner of only 16 WTA Tour wins, Navarro appeared to be in need of a multi-year apprenticeship before she could become an early-round threat at non-clay slams. The complete absence of any hardcourt achievements from Navarro’s dossier pointed to an uneventful evening Down Under.

But now, as the tennis community gathers itself and tries to absorb the shock of this upset, what really stands out is the fact that this match began the way everyone thought it would. When Venus rolled to the first set in just 29 very comfortable minutes, not a soul in Rod Laver Arena felt that a revolting development was about to occur.

Incredibly, though, Navarro began to slug it out with the taller, more accomplished superstar from the streets of Compton, California. The young lady from Spain inflicted pain on Venus, whipping a one-handed backhand and generally controlling baseline rallies. Despite Venus’s wealth of match experience and an abundant supply of power and athleticism, the American rarely–if ever–took the initiative in prolonged exchanges, acquiring a defensive stance that never turned into a more attacking style of tennis. Controlling the flow of the match, Navarro snatched the second set in appreciably decisive fashion.

As the third set dawned, intrigue was in the air, but the smart money still rested with the more proven performer. When Venus fought through her sluggishness to attain a 5-2 lead, the underdog’s inspired performance was about to go for naught. It’s a familiar story: “Spunky unknown player plays the match of a lifetime, but seasoned champion regroups from adversity and manages to win in the end.”

Sports fans know the drill: When the heavy favorite regains footing after a period of hardship in a given event, the less-heralded opponent’s doom is assured. On 99 out of every 100 occasions, this narrative holds.

Thursday night in Melbourne Park, a thrilled crowd saw the exception that proves the rule, and a moment that won’t soon leave the public memory.

Just when she appeared to be destined for an unhappy fate, Navarro held for 3-5 and then–with Venus serving for the match–came up with a break. Suddenly and spectacularly, the final set was back on serve. Even then, however, Venus–by virtue of serving first in the set–had her nose in front at. Another challenge had to be surmounted if Navarro was to prevail.

The Spaniard used a great deal of mental energy to break Venus and continue the match. Many other lower-tier tennis pros, at this point in time, would have let down their guard at 4-5 in the third. When Navarro served to stay in the match, she had to resist the inclination to think that she had already overcome her biggest hurdle. Venus–for all her struggles–simply needed one high-quality return game to pull out the match and move on to the third round.

That break never came.

A steely and sure-handed Navarro did indeed hold for 5-all, and once the third set was truly even–not just on serve, but numerically level–the emotional equation changed. With her lead entirely gone, Venus stayed in a shell of cautiousness and watched Navarro take over in the eleventh game of the set. Navarro gained her second consecutive break of service to acquire a 6-5 lead, and after one more commanding service game, the earthquake-like result became official.

Carla Suarez Navarro didn’t just beat Venus Ebony Star Williams in the second round of the Australian Open. The Spaniard did so after getting wiped out in the first set, and blitzed in the first seven games of the third. Disappointed fans of the Williams sisters would probably call this a “come-from-ahead loss” by Venus, but Spanish tennis diehards will look upon Thursday’s thriller as a supremely valiant effort in the face of almost-certain defeat. Venus might not have displayed the tactical adjustments that were necessary to finish the job, but for a player of Navarro’s limited experience to complete this kind of conquest is nothing short of sensational. The defense of Navarro–who limited the hard-serving Williams to just 4 aces in this nighttime confrontation–revealed the extent of her competitive drive.

To compare this upset to other huge shockers in the world of contemporary women’s tennis, one would do well to recall the 2007 Wimbledon semifinal between Justine Henin and Marion Bartoli. On that afternoon in suburban London, the reigning world No. 1 crushed Bartoli, an upstart Frenchwoman, in a first set that lasted just 22 minutes. Much like Navarro-Williams, the first set established the dominance of the heavyweight and only affirmed the conventional wisdom surrounding the match. When Henin had a 6-1 set in her pocket, and then a break lead at 4-3 in the second, Bartoli’s chances of staging a fightback were slim to none.

Slim, however, would win out.

With her hopes seemingly ebbing away into a gentle summer evening, Bartoli broke Henin twice to take the second set, 7-5. Liberated by her escape, the woman with two-handed groundstrokes from both wings pounded Henin into submission in set three. When it was all over, Bartoli owned a victory with a most unusual scoreline: 1-6, 7-5, 6-1. Trailing for most of the day, Marion Bartoli turned an entirely expected defeat into an all-time upset. That match closely paralleled the scene at Rod Laver Arena on a Thursday no one will soon forget.

Everyone knows Venus Williams, but after an extraordinary display of grace under fire, Carla Suarez Navarro has every chance in the world to become a major factor on the WTA tour over the next few years.