The female no 1 Serena Williams has won her second ‘Serena Slam’ of her extraordinary career and set her sights on completing a calendar year Slam of the major singles titles after defeating Garbine Muguruza.
The American, 33, beat Garbine Muguruza, the No20 seed from Spain, in a match more thrilling than the 6-4, 6-4 score suggests, to win her 21st Grand Slam singles title.
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She also became the oldest female Slam winner in the Open era and holds the US Open, Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon singles titles simultaneously, as she last did in 2003.
And by defending the US Open next month she can become the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1988 to win all four Slams in the same year. Victory at Flushing Meadows would also take Williams level with Graf’s career total of 22 Slam wins.
‘Man, it is really a great feeling,’ said Williams of this latest victory, her sixth Wimbledon title to add to six Australian Opens, six US Opens and three French Opens. ‘I’m just really excited about it because I didn’t want to talk about the Serena Slam. I honestly wouldn’t have thought last year after winning the US Open I would win the Serena Slam at all.
It’s super exciting. I just knew I wanted to win Wimbledon this year. Of all the Grand Slams, it was the one I hadn’t won in a while. It happened. Just amazing. It feels really, really good.
The jaw-dropping statistics of Williams’ career continue to pile up. She has been in 25 Slam singles finals now and won 21. Looking as dominant and motivated as at any time, there appears no reason why she cannot stay at the top of the game for some time, in every sense.
What made this final compelling is that Muguruza — who has been the breakthrough star of the past fortnight without a doubt — pushed Williams. The 21-year-old was born in Caracas, Venezuela and is now resident in Barcelona and was the first Spanish woman in a Wimbledon singles final since Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in 1996.
The world No20 will climb to No9 in the rankings tomorrow and was hoping to become Spain’s first winner here since Conchita Martinez in 1994.
Although she was eventually outmuscled and outplayed, she recovered from 5-1 down in the second set to give Williams a scare. And though there were tears aplenty when she lost the good fight, Muguruza said that they were as much through the grandness of the occasion and the crowd’s appreciation than of sorrow. ‘I couldn’t stop crying,’ she said. ‘So many people were clapping. I make all these people feel this [positivity], in a tennis court? I felt special
Muguruza has brought a smile and a thrilling sense of adventure to the All England Club. But Williams brought her A-game to London and, when in full force, there is not much that anyone else can do to stop her. She has won 28 Slam singles matches on the bounce now, beating a string of Slam winners and former world No1s along the way.
Williams’ power game is underpinned by her ferocious serve but it faltered at the start of the match as she double faulted on the opening point. Two more double faults in that game were a sign of a few nerves from the world No1 and, soon after, Muguruza exploited the early weakness, converting the fourth break point with booming groundstrokes that forced Williams long.
‘I learned that all people are nervous — even Serena — in a final, because I saw it,’ said Muguruza. ‘And I learned that I have a good level. I have to believe that I can be there. I’m going to leave here being really motivated. I think I’m the most motivated person right now. This gives me a lot of power to keep practicing and improving, to see what else I can do in my next tournaments.
Muguruza was now hitting long two often and, when she double-faulted to hand Williams a break point, the American seized on it and took the first set.
Williams raced into a 5-1 lead in the second and then, against all the odds, Muguruza kept herself in contention with a break of her own for 5-2, a hold for 5-3 and another break back for 5-4, playing with such confident shot-making and force that even Williams was applauding at one stage. And Williams also knew Muguruza could beat her. She did just that at the French Open last year
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