For a stretch of four major tournaments, up through a victory over Muguruza in the Wimbledon final previous year, Williams went unbeaten, taking every title.
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“I’m so, so excited”, Muguruza said on court. “And then today Garbine played unbelievable so the only thing I can do is keep trying”, Serena said.
Williams saved four match points in the next game to stay alive, but Muguruza stayed calm to serve out for the biggest win of her fledgling career, clinching it with a lob that landed smack on the baseline. Muguruza will often say that she will win or lose a match according to how she strikes the ball, not how her opponent plays. “You work all your life to get here”, the 22-year-old right-handed tennis ace said after beating the reigning WTA’s world No. 1. Serena is getting to the latter rounds but she hasn’t been able to close.
And a semi-final defeat by Roberta Vinci at the US Open and a final loss against Angelique Kerber in Australia can now be added her first final defeat at Roland Garros.
Garbine Muguruza carried over her brilliant play early into the second, breaking Williams in the opening game.
But the Spaniard already has her sights set on more silverware, and few would bet against her. “Nothing I can do about it”, she told reporters.
As the pendulum swung, Williams then benefited from two break points at 15-40.
Williams stood and applauded as Muguruza sank to the clay in celebration.
The top seed, who has won the French Open three times in her career, failed to respond as she lost serve instantly at the start of the second set following a handful of errors.
The Williams serve, so long the best shot in the women’s game, looked vulnerable and Muguruza had the courage and the ability to attack it and even make it look average.
“I’m not one to ever make excuses and say, like, Oh, my adductor was hurting or whatever”.
Garbine Muguruza was at a loss of words after she defeated world number one Serena Williams in the final at Roland Garros on Saturday.
With weather conditions improving after one of the rainiest Roland Garros tournaments on record, it was a different, more focussed Williams that got the final underway with a love service game. “She knows how to play on the big stage and she clearly knows how to win Grand Slams”, said the American of a player who was just eight when she won her first Paris title.
The American is one behind that and, back in September when she seemed as dominant as at any time since turning professional in 1995, looked odds-on to tie the record at the U.S. Open.
Though she was well beaten by the American in the Wimbledon final last summer, that experience surely helped as she coped with whatever was thrown at her and gave more back.
So the wait continues for Serena’s coronation as the greatest tennis player of the Open-era.
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The return of Williams’ trademark screams after key points also pointed to a more focused approach on her fourth successive day on court than she had shown, when ostensibly fresher, during Thursday’s and Friday’s matches. I’ve grown up playing on clay, so for me and Spain this is just awesome.
