Agnieszka Radwanska ends a stunning rally with a huge overhead smash to win a game during her three-set loss to Garbine Muguruza at Wimbledon.
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Williams extended her career record against Sharapova to 18-2. “Nobody can do that for me”, the 2012 Wimbledon runner-up said when pressed on the blunder at a news conference.
“At least I made it to a final of four”, Williams said. “Just like family”.
Sanchez-Vicario was also last Spanish woman to reach final, in 1996, but last Spaniard to win here was Conchita Martinez in 1994, beating Martina Navratilova.
Only two weeks ago, Muguruza lost to Britain’s Jo Konta in the third round at Eastbourne, and she had never gone beyond the quarter-finals of a grand slam before.
The last player to win all four majors in the same season was Steffi Graf in 1988.
Turn back the calendar more than a year, to June 28, 2014, when Serena Williams lost to Alize Cornet in the third round at Wimbledon.
In Sunday’s final, Djokovic will face either Roger Federer or Andy Murray.
Gasquet on the other hand was super impressive in his straight sets dismissal of Dimitrov, but was perhaps a bit fortunate against Kyrgios before coming from a set down to win in 5 against the reigning French open champion Stan Wawrinka.
The first match is expected to start shortly after 1 p.m. The second match will follow.
Muguruza, who saved two break points in the final game, dropped face-first onto the grass on Centre Court after hitting a swinging forehand volley for a victor on her first match point.
The 21-year-old Spaniard has had a set routine on her way to a first Grand Slam final which has included getting up and cleaning her teeth at a certain time while her mother and father stayed in Spain so as not to upset the rhythm.
If Williams can beat Muguruza, the 33-year-old American would head to the U.S. Open in August with a shot at that feat.
Victory in the final would catapult the Venezuela-born Muguruza to stardom in Spain, especially in her home base of Barcelona. In fact, the clash in general bore extraordinary similarity to Serena’s 2012 Wimbledon showdown against the same opponent: Agnieszka Radwanska.
Will 20th ranked Garbine Muguruza inflict an upset over Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska?
If Muguruza is able to pounce on Radwanska’s lethargic second serve and lack of power in her groundstrokes, as well as generate a consistent first serve, she will have a good chance of progressing to the final. But even that match went to three sets, with Muguruza winning the first.
Sharapova could not deal with the ferocity of the Williams return, while her own serve crumbled as the American increased the pressure.
On Thursday, Muguruza outdueled Radwanska (6-2, 3-6, 6-3) and secured her spot in the final match of this year’s Wimbledon.
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She had already beaten the likes of Angelique Kerber, Caroline Wozniacki and Timea Bacsinszky to get here, the first Spanish woman to reach the Wimbledon semis in 15 years.
