Muguruza was not expected to beat Williams, nobody is when they face the world number one with 21 grand slam titles now safely tucked away.
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Maybe the most telling statistic about Williams’ ability to turn it up a notch when the spotlight is brightest is this: Her record in major semifinals and finals is 47-7. Williams won 6-4, 6-4. If she retains the trophy, however, she will join the elite of the sport by recording a Slam of Slams. The resilient Spaniard also fought through two championship points against the empowering Williams.
There is no denying the fact that she was overwhelming favorite to win against a player who is 12 years her junior.
Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario was the last Spanish woman to make the final at the All England Club, while Conchita Martinez was the last Spanish champion in 1994.
But after seeing off Spain’s Garbine Muguruza 6-4 6-4 on Centre Court, Williams said: “I feel nearly better now”. “And this year I came here thinking, No, I like grass”.
On to the next one.
Now basking in the glory of her Wimbledon success, Williams insisted it would soon be back to business ahead of her U.S. Open tilt. I’ve had a couple of injuries.
“If you get through all these situations and you’re mentally tough, you have the chance to play like these kind of matches”.
But Muguruza, Venezuela-born and Barcelona-raised, can take heart from her stunning French Open second round victory against Serena past year, in which she allowed the American just four games.
For Serena, it always goes beyond the game with her critics arguing that being muscular, which is not a very feminine trait, is responsible for her win. She is the latest player, male or female, to have held each of the four Grand Slam singles titles at the same time (2002-03 and 2014-15), and the fifth lady ever to do so.
With 21 Grand Slam headings, Williams is definitely in short supply of Steffi Graf’s Open moment put on record and 3 behind Margaret Court’s historic ledger.
Saturday’s win give Williams six championships in three of tennis’ top events – Australian Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open. Just I learned that it’s so hard, a grand slam. “I’ve won so many Grand Slam titles”. At Wimbledon, she was two points from defeat twice against Britain’s Heather Watson in the third round, then eliminated a trio of women who are former No. 1s and own multiple major titles: her older sister Venus, Victoria Azarenka, and Maria Sharapova.
“Yeah, it’s huge. It’s really, really huge”, Williams said of the opportunity to win all four slams in a calendar year. She revealed to Sportsmail it’s usually What A Feeling by Irene Cara. She is world No. 1. Age, though, is just a number as far as she is concerned and having said goodbye to Wimbledon with the promise to come back next year, by that time Graf’s mark could be long in her wake. Although the Belarussian pushed Williams to three sets, the American prevailed once again. After the match, Muguruza praised Williams and Williams offered some praise of her opponent.
For Muguruza, her march to her maiden grand slam final was a massive learning experience. I’m really nice right now, but sooner or later it’s going to [be] cut out, because I can’t think about that.
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At 5-1 in the second set, Williams looked like she had the victory in the bag. This will give me the power to keep practising and improving, to see what else I can do. And so do the rest of us who love her and her body.
