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Serena Williams withstood early and late surges from Garbine Muguruza to capture the women’s title in straight sets at the 2015 Wimbledon Championships on Saturday. The 6-4, 6-4 triumph gives her 21 career Grand Slam singles titles, three behind Margaret Court for the most in history.
Williams now holds all four major titles at once—the Serena Slam—and earned a chance to go for the calendar Grand Slam at the U.S. Open. It’s one of the few accomplishments she’s yet to pull off in her illustrious career.
Muguruza came into the match with a rare amount of confidence for a 21-year-old player making her first appearance in a major final. Along with a dominant 6-2, 6-2 victory over the veteran American at the French Open last year, she also took her to three sets in Australia back in January.
Chris Lehourites of the Associated Press noted the rising Spanish star felt those results would put even more pressure on the top seed.
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“She knows that I can win against her, that I’m not afraid,” Muguruza said. “I don’t think she’s really used to this. Serena, she doesn’t lose so many matches in the year.”
Those comments appeared prophetic in the first game, as Williams struggled mightily to get first serves in, struck three double-faults and immediately got broken. Nick McCarvel of USA Today illustrated the contrast between that poor effort and how she’s played throughout the event:
She found herself in trouble once again during her second service game but fought back from a 0-30 hole to hold, and that really seemed to help her settle in.
The level of play, which was lackluster in the early going with plenty of disjointed rallies, started to rise as the set went on. Williams got the break back to equalize the set at 4-4 and then held to grab her first lead of the match.
Muguruza didn’t respond well to the improved form of the top-ranked player in the world. She played several tight points and then tossed in her first double-fault at deuce, giving Williams a break opportunity. The American didn’t let it slip away, hitting her 16th winner of the set to close it out.
While the underdog shined at times, she wasn’t able to maintain the high quality that’s necessary to keep pace with Williams, as Matt Cronin of Tennis Reporters pointed out:
ESPN Stats & Info highlighted the hurdle that dropping the first set added for Muguruza:
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The early portion of the second set looked like a coronation for Williams, as she rather routinely raced out to a 5-1 lead. The weight of being one game from another Serena Slam seemingly had an impact on her, however, as she started missing shots and visible frustration began to mount.
Muguruza capitalized, battling hard to get back on serve at 5-4 with some sublime ball-striking. It’s typical for a player to start hitting better when she’s on the brink of losing—there’s a certain freedom to it—but once she got back in the set, the mistakes returned.
Williams answered back with an anticlimactic break to win the match. Muguruza’s missed shot was close to the line, and everybody in Centre Court awaited a challenge that never came, which subdued the initial celebration.
source: CNN.com
