Her game in high gear, history in the offing, Serena Williams is perfectly content to let everyone else talk about what a victory in the Wimbledon final would mean.
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“I don’t have words to explain it”, Muguruza said. She made one semifinal. “I know that that’s what keeps me going forward”. The Spanish men, led by Rafael Nadal, have no such drought.
But the 26-year-old Pole, a former world number two, finally began to extend the rallies, keeping the ball away from Muguruza’s strike zone. Sanchez Vicario was also the last Spanish woman to make a Wimbledon semifinal, back in 1997. Far from it. She has beaten Williams once before at the 2014 French Open and as far as Muguruza is concerned facing the greatest player of her generation on the grandest stage of them all is just another chapter in this Cinderella story.
“We’ve been friends for, like, so many years”, Williams said.
Williams stretched her record over Sharapova to 18-2 with the Russian’s last win over the 33-year-old coming back in 2004.
“I always expect her to play the best tennis against myself and a few other elite players”, Sharapova said.
Maria Sharapova has lost the second set of her quarterfinal match at Wimbledon.
It took 55 minutes for Radwanska to earn a break point but, when Muguruza found the net, it heralded a dramatic shift in momentum.
Sharapova needed to have one of her finest serving days to engineer the upset, but two aces and six double faults were never going to be enough. Post shoulder surgery in 2008, the serve hasn’t been the same.
However, after a relatively untroubled first set on Centre Court, she lost a hugely entertaining second as the two identikit 6ft-plus blondes with matching white visors slugged it out.
Serena Williams of the United States celebrates as she defeats… A fourth major in a row would equal her feat from 2002-03, when she completed a “Serena Slam”.
Muguruza has a promising future. Thursday’s semifinal match will mark the fifth time that Radwanska and Muguruza will meet on professional tour.
Despite Radwanska’s attempt to play down the incident, Muguruza shared the view of everyone in the crowd that she had been influenced to make the call. There were times when Radwanska had no answer to the world No 20’s consistent ball-striking.
Muguruza looked to be heading into the final when she went a break up in the second set but her level dropped and Radwanska recovered to take the second set.
But perhaps the occasion got to Muguruza.
The first set belonged to Muguruza, as she connected on 12 winners. Both players are riding 10 match winning streaks on grass after their tournament wins at Queens and Halle respectively.
“When she stepped up her game, I was able to step up mine as well”, Williams said.
She had to work for it, but when Muguruza’s suddenly-less-impressive forehand drifted long, we were into a deciding set. After beating Bacsinszky, she spoke about her admiration for four ex- Wimbledon champions.
She has now cut all ties with her Hungarian father, but the three-month break did wonders for her career and from dropping out of the top 250 at the time, she is now No 15.
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Radwanska had one final opportunity, however, holding two break points at 3-5. On the first, a Williams like serve paved the way for a drive volley victor. Radwanska is winning at least 70 percent of her first serve points and 38 percent of her second serve points.
