Skip to content

Muguruza beats Venus to win 1st Wimbledon title

U.S. REUTERS/Matthew Childs / Action Images

Garbine Muguruza has won her second Grand Slam and her first Wimbledon title.

The 23-year-old Spaniard topped 37-year-old Venus Williams with a forceful performance in the final on Saturday, running away with the second set after gutting out a taut first, and clinching a 7-5, 6-0 victory with a Hawk-Eye review that confirmed Venus had sent a forehand just long.

She is the first Spanish woman to win Wimbledon since Conchita Martinez - who has been coaching Muguruza at this tournament in the absence of regular coach Sam Sumyk - captured the title in 1994.

The match turned in the 10th game of the first set, when Venus had two cracks at set point. She'd looked, to that point, like the slightly sturdier player, dictating with her forehand, forcing errors from Muguruza off that wing, and jamming her up with serves into the body. Then, on the first of those set points at 4-5, 15-40, the two played a bludgeoning 19-stroke baseline rally, with each shot screaming back a bit harder than the one before, until Venus finally blinked and netted a forehand.

Muguruza saved the next set point with an unreturned first serve, won the deuce point by opening up the court with a pair of angled forehands before blasting a winner up the line, and held serve when Venus sailed a forehand on game point. Energized, Muguruza earned the first break of the match with some spectacular defense in the following game, and ran the table from there. She won the last nine games of the tournament.

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

After dropping that first set, Venus started spraying her forehand, rolling in her serves, and generally looking deflated.

She'd eschewed several golden opportunities to come to net in the first set, and over-corrected as a desperation tactic in the second, moving in behind poor approaches and watching helplessly as Muguruza's passing shots zipped by her. She was one point from being one set from being the oldest Grand Slam champion of the Open era, but her inspiring fortnight ultimately ended in disappointment.

Muguruza has had a spotty season, and hadn't played in any tournament final since winning her first major at the French Open 13 months ago. But she proved once again that she lives for the big moments, playing brave, focused, clean, unbending tennis to wear down the five-time champ on the other side of the net. In three Slam finals, she's only ever played a Williams sister, and having beaten Serena at the French in 2016, she's now the only woman to have beaten both sisters in a major championship match.

After beating her on Centre Court in the 2015 final, Serena had told her to keep her chin up, and that she'd be the one holding the Venus Rosewater Dish in due time. Muguruza did not forget those words.

"Two years ago I lost to Serena and she told me maybe one day I would win," she said in her post-match interview.

"Here I am."

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox