The 22-year-old Spaniard, who produced a pristine performance for an hour and 43 minutes on Saturday to deny Williams a 22nd major trophy with a 7-5 6-4 victory, was soon covered head-to-toe in clay after collapsing on to her back to celebrate her maiden grand slam triumph.
Advertisement
When her final outrageous lob landed smack on the baseline, Muguruza collapsed to the dirt while Williams applauded.
“And I think it’s incredible to see new faces and that the players know now that it’s possible to win, to defeat Serena”.
“Just goes to show you, you really have to play the big points well”, Williams said, “and I think she played the big points really well”.
Muguruza maintained her level of play and composure to start the second set with a third break of serve, but she then struggled on her own serve, coughing up a seventh double fault to hand back the advantage.
Serena Williams met her match in hard-hitting Garbine Muguruza Saturday at Roland Garros. You work all your life to get here.
“She’s world number two after this, only one more step to be number one… she’s going to win many more grand slams”, 1994 Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez said of the new title-holder. “I don’t know how you say it”. “When you’re a kid and practice on clay, you’re always, ‘Oh, I wish I could win Roland Garros'”.
Spain’s Garbine Muguruza receives the trophy after winning the French Open Saturday as Serena Williams looks on.
“I thought about it [Kerber’s three-set win]”. Adductor or not, she played to win.
That said, even Serena seemed to recognize that Muguruza is different than the other challengers who haven’t been able to establish themselves as dominant forces on the WTA Tour after winning Slams. It is marked “total grand slam wins”, and frames a debate about who to consider the greatest woman player of all time.
Having taken the first set and broken Williams on the way to a 5-3 lead in the second, she missed four match points as the American, as she has done so many times in her career, found her best form when she needed it.
Williams, who had been below par by her standards in the tournament, managed to break back to draw 4-4, but the American was stunned again when Muguruza earned a break point with a backhand shot. Serena prevailed, 6-4, 6-4 to win her 21st major title and Muguruza was clearly second best that day. “I’m like, “Come on”.
Since Angelique Kerber upset Williams at the Australian Open in January, the German has had a hard time maintaining her consistency, and almost two weeks ago she was bundled out of this event in the first round.
The Spaniard demonstrates the same sort of determination on a court that she observed in Williams and her sibling, hitting hard groundstrokes, aiming for lines, taking risks that bring real rewards.
Williams is 12 years older than Muguruza. In the final, Muguruza matched Serena for pace and power, but her strongest weapon was her ability to change the direction of the ball at will. Smacking forehands down-the-line and pummeling inside-out backhands, she had Serena on the run.
“I think she has a bright future, obviously”.
Muguruza smacked 23 aces, and the same number of double faults, before the final. Nobody in the men’s or women’s game has been ranked No. 1 in the world at Williams’ age, either.
“You can just tell this is very good timing for what she’s going to handle off the court as well because now there’s pressures off the court that she’s never had”. “Spain is very lucky to have this unbelievable tennis player”.
Advertisement
The takeaway: Muguruza’s serve is already a weapon that is only going to be better in every aspect.
