Muguruza downs Williams to win first Wimbledon Championship

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Garbine Muguruza made history once again at the Wimbledon Championships Saturday. The 23 year old achieved an amazing run as she overtook Venus Williams who could get a game after five all in the opening set which ended in a 7-5, 6-0 straight sets match on Centre Court at the All England Tennis Club. It was the second attempt for the Spaniard to take a stab at the Wimbledon Plate and the first for her career. It was the first time in 24 years since Conchita Martinez won the title for Spain.

This was the second time the two superstars met in a final but the first for them facing one another at Wimbledon. They have both appeared on the center court main event a combined ten times with Williams winning five titles on the grass courts in London. The American took their final match at Wuhan two years ago winning her second in the series but watched Muguruza take her two months ago in Rome. While none of it would be in the heads of the tennis stars, the experience was heavily in the hands of the 37-year-old who would seek her sixth while the Spaniard vied for her first ever.

She struggled on the opening serve double faulting right off the bat against Williams. Muguruza rallied back to get control, holding the American back before a strategy to end the rally with a net front lob gave her the victory. The pace was set by the veteran who kept out front on Muguruza seeking a chance in control aside from having plenty of her own on serve. She earned her first love service in the fifth delivering serious power on the forehand and placement that Muguruza couldn’t handle.

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The Spaniard had to figure out her own forehand adjusting the way she held the racket to get the shots back across to Williams and stay on point. It led to a deuce draw in the seventh with Williams under pressure but recovered from a double fault in the fourth break. She fired an ace to reach a second game point and put her serve back in control. The American reached 5-4 putting all the stress on Muguruza to hold in the tenth or fall a set down going on.

Williams attacked in the returns beginning with a line drive winner that became her 11^th in the set. She managed to reach two set points but a 19 shot rally got Muguruza back into it forcing deuce with Williams. Her efforts to hang on paid her in having another shot at turning the set around as it moved into extra games. The 14^th seed got it done in the 11^th taking a big step ahead of the American to go for the set by all means possible. She reached two set points on key ball landings inside the court that Williams was fooled on. She fought back to erase the deficit but it came to an end after 51 minutes with redirects faltering for the tenth seed.

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It led to serious momentum in the second set in in favor of Muguruza who counterbalanced the answers from Williams making them easy to deal with. She had a 2-0 run followed by a successful finish of the third as the errors were coming up from William’s end for her seventh. While she struggled to recover from the problems.

Muguruza added a sixth straight victory holding Williams to very little in the set as she inched closer to the title. The Spaniard reached her first triple break putting Williams away with a line drive winner for her eighth to serve for the title. Muguruza coasted to three championship points in the sixth game only to falter once on a short rally. The nerve was getting to her as she committed two straight errors. The next rally ended in a challenge from the Spaniard who watched as hawk eye showed the ball landing out to end the 1 hour and 17 minute match what quickly became a huge upset. It was the first time that a player was able to defeat both Williams sisters in a major final.

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“It’s such a bomb of emotions,” Muguruza said to ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi. “You dream of this once you make it. Few people can do it and feel such a big accomplishment.” “I went out there more calm knowing that I wanted to play and not be afraid of the situation, it’s just experience.”

Venus had nothing but positive remarks for her opponent after the match concluded. “She worked hard today and I know how much this means to you and your family so well done,” Williams said after the match. The toll was taken on her second serve as she only won 61 percent of shots on the second serve and won just 17 of 55 on the returns.

Though the stats showed the difference maker in the match the new champion had a much different point of view. “This was the hardest match of the day against Venus,” Muguruza said during her on court interview. “She’s such an incredible player that I grew up watching her play so it’s incredible to have played in the final with.” “I always dreamed to be here so I was composed. The first set was very tough and both had a lot of chances and I’m glad that I made it.”  

Williams bags Wimbledon final in straight sets over Konta

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Johanna Konta didn’t have the game to succeed onward at the Wimbledon Championships. Venus Williams had the best day on center court putting pressure on the number one Brit to reach the finals for the ninth time with a 6-4, 6-2 win at the All England Tennis Club. The American became the oldest player since Martina Navratilova did so in 1994.

The two superstars can’t stop running into each other during the 2017 WTA Tour as another moment has them at a critical career changing moment. With the tournament wide open since the round of 16, the world number seven had a great chance at creating history for Great Britain for the first time in 40 years. On the other end, the veteran and five time Wimbledon champion was one step from a chance at a sixth. Konta holds the series lead that led to a title in 2016 and her first WTA premier mandatory title back in early April. With one step before the ultimate final, the two would give it their all putting everything on the line.

Williams began her opening serve with an attempt at love but Konta denied her the ease of dictating early. The Brit responded with a strong hold in the second that began the pace of the set. They remained on serve up to the sixth game where the next moves were critical to the end result. Williams set the bar each time for Konta who answered the challenge and went for a chance in the ninth with a break chance.

Williams weathered through the trouble on serve and played for a shot at the set against the serve of the British star. She began to feel the pressure against the American who went up 40-0 before Konta began her dig into the game. She was stopped on a long ball during the rally that gave Williams the set after 38 minutes. The former number one had her serve percentage winning more than 75 percent of points.

Williams started the second set with another service hold keeping her game solidified while pressuring Konta to falter once more. She leveled in the second game with a hold of two game points but it was a downspin that the British number one would soon endure. Konta had two double faults that took their moments through the next three games giving Williams enough breathing room to be an unstoppable force. She battled in the sixth to keep the breaks going but Konta’s need for a hold was necessary to stay alive as the set closed in on a finish.

As the American reached 5-2, it put the world number seven in trouble to fall on serve as Williams attacked the second serve. Konta fought hard to force deuce and got into a tug of war for control. Critical errors handed Williams three match point attempts which was the charm in the end concluding 1 hour and 13 minutes. In what was her best success over Konta, the 37-year-old returned to the finals at Wimbledon for the first time since 2009 and would give it her all facing Garbine Muguruza on Saturday.

“I’ve played a lot of finals here,” said Williams after the match. “I couldn’t have asked for more and it would be amazing and I’ll give it my all. I thought the crowd was nice and were fair and loved Jo. She gave it her all today and there was a lot of pressure and she handled it well and my experience helped a lot.”

Muguruza enters Wimbledon final with lightning fast win over Rybarikova

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Garbine Muguruza was the stronger force that led her to the finals of the Wimbledon Championships. The 23 year old dominated the skills of Magdalena Rybarikova who couldn’t break the Spaniard in a 6-1, 6-1 straight sets victory on Center Court at the All England Tennis Club.

The two met four times in the past with each one of them beating the other evenly. The Slovakian took down Muguruza in a grass court match two years ago but things have clearly changed. The Spaniard has become a dominant force since their last meeting and her presence to reach the finals once more remains a challenge. The world number 87 has held the role of dark horse since she took down Karolina Pliskova in the second round. Her confidence only rose with wins along the way that also took down heavy hitter Coco Vandeweghe. With this being her best run in any grand slam, the 28-year-old hoped to keep it going against the world number 15.

She was already down two games in the first six minutes to Muguruza who had her game well under control while the 28-year-old felt the nerves. She was down 40-0 when a challenge in the third went Rybarikova’s way. She got on the board briefly before an error on the forehand handed the Spaniard another step forward. The control from the 14^th seed remained in focus dominating the returns of the Slovakian holding off her comeback to deuce for a second consecutive break.

Despite the tremendous difficulty, Rybarikova attempted the break the Spaniard in the fifth but was again denied a break opportunity. 22 minutes had elapsed putting Muguruza in position for the set which didn’t go in shape of a sweep. It was at that point that the Slovakian laid down winners across court finishing Muguruza off with an ace to avoid the bagel. The 14^th seed returned to serve in the seventh where she fired off a set of shots to still hold the set after 30 minutes. She ended the set winning near 70 percent of shots on the first serve and a second serve very close in tow. With less than ten unforced errors and eight winners the Spaniard knew that she had everything under her belt going into the second set.

Another runaway began to take shape for Muguruza who consolidated the final win in the sixth and extended the winning streak to four games after 43 combined minutes of play. It was soon to four games to none in the second as Muguruza inched quickly to her goal of securing a spot in the finals. The fifth saw another moment for the Slovakian she reached deep on her service to be the stronger force. When it came to controlling the court, Muguruza had the leverage to force deuce.

She couldn’t lock down the break point failing on three attempts before the longest game of the match went to Rybarikova after four breaks. While she managed to avoid another bagel in the match, the inevitable began to show its face as Muguruza held serve in the sixth to go all in on the break. She reached triple break to work her way through the game and win it on a 15-shot rally ending the one hour four-minute span on court.

“I think I played very well for sure,” Muguruza said after the match. “It was a tricky match. She’s a very talented player and she was playing very good in the tournament so I stepped out on the court being very confident and everything went well.”

With the swift win, she’ll get the rest of the day and Friday to await her final opponent between Venus Williams or Johanna Konta on Saturday. “I’m going to enjoy it for sure,” she said. “Being in a grand slam final is a great achievement and I definitely want to win no matter who is in front of me and I’ll be looking at their game and it’ll be a great final no matter what.”