It was a breakthrough tournament for the 21-year-old Garbine Muguruza. After making the French Open quarterfinals on two previous occasions, the Spaniard competed in her first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon. I think it is fair to say, Muguruza has arrived.
Always been highly touted, the 21-year-old had previously made the French Open quarter finals this year and in 2014, even dishing out the biggest Grand Slam loss for Serena Williams in 15 years. Despite her unquestionable talents, Muguruza had failed to make a huge breakthrough at Grand Slam level–until now.
After dispatching Angelique Kerber, Caroline Wozniacki, Timea Bacsinszky, and Agnieszka Radwanska, Muguruza faced the seemingly impossible task of conquering Serena in Saturday’s final. Title prospects were beginning to look like a possibility rather than a dream when she went 4-2 up in the first set, but as ever the World #1 raised her level and ended the Spanish hopes with a 6-4 6-4 victory.
Now some of you keen readers may have come across my article in the build up to Wimbledon, where I questioned Muguruza’s ability on the grass. After all, she was struggling in the warm-up events, and she had never made it past the second round at Wimbledon before. To be frank, she looked out of place on the lawns.
The World #20 had to solve her grass court conundrum, or she would be heading to the exit door prematurely at SW19. Instead she foud herself amongst the elite, competing for the Venus Rosewater Dish. If these two weeks have proven anything, it is that Muguruza has cracked the puzzle.
So how did she do it? How is it that a player who struggled so much on grass just two weeks ago found herself within one win of taking home the Wimbledon crown? Let’s look at the factors that have contributed to her success.
The Courts:
The courts at Wimbledon have been particularly slow this year for grass. It has been a mixture of the surface homogenisation and the unusual heatwave that caused the courts to dry up in the first week of The Championships.
One of the main reasons Muguruza had struggled in Birmingham and Eastbourne is due to the quickness of those courts. The Spaniard takes big swings at the ball, and the speed it was coming up at her forced the 21-year-old to rush her shots and commit unforced errors. It often led to frustration for Muguruza, who could not find her rhythm at all–her power game had been rendered ineffective.
The slower courts at Wimbledon allowed the Spaniard to time the ball well and find her rhythm from the baseline. Muguruza could play her power game for the first time on the grass and that has made her super effective and dangerous.
The increased confidence in her movement:
Having watched Muguruza in Birmingham and Eastbourne, something struck me as particularly troubling–her movement was poor. The Spaniard is not known as a great mover to begin with, but on the grass it was even worse. It was clear that she had no confidence with her footing, and when put on the defensive she struggled hugely.
Then something changed. Watching her at Wimbledon, Muguruza seemed more comfortable than ever with her movement on the grass. The reasons why are unknown. It could be the doubles run at Birmingham, it could be the extra week of grass court preparations, or it could just have been confidence all along. Either way, she certainly looks better than ever with her movement on the grass.
She is playing with controlled aggression:
Muguruza is a very aggressive baseline player who looks to hit winners from all areas of the court. Often times it can lead to extraordinary performances, others it can lead to ridiculous errors. At Wimbledon, Muguruza managed to control that aggression.
Instead of looking for winners every shot, the 21-year-old constructed her points and looked for the winner at the right times. The added patience helped her hugely against the great defenders such as Kerber, Wozniacki and Radwanska as she did not allow herself to get impatient or upset by their retrieval skills.
Controlling her aggression helped Muguruza’s timing on the surface, and as a result her performances were less error strewn.
Mentality and attitude:
Perhaps the biggest factor of them all was the way Muguruza approached the tournament. The 20th seed told the press numerous times of her change in attitude towards the grass. Before, she hated it, but this season she willed herself to like the grass, and the result speaks for itself.
As well as the change in attitude towards grass, Muguruza approached every match with positivity. Even when she was outplayed, the Spaniard never brought herself down like we have seen a few times in recent months. Her body language was noticeably more positive than weeks prior to the tournament and that translated in to the way she played.
The 21-year-old also displayed amazing mental strength, in particularly the match against Kerber. Muguruza saved nine set points in the opener which she ended winning 14-12 in the tiebreak. Most of the saves were made by big serves and/or huge groundstrokes which often painted the lines. She also responded positively after losing the second set 6-1 and went on to dominate the third set 6-2.
She also never stopped fighting as evident in the final, where Muguruza came from 5-1 down in the second set against Serena to get it back to 5-4 before eventually falling under the pressure. The Spaniard was not overwhelmed by the occasion like the two previous runners-up even if she did get a little tight in key moments–but that is expected in your first Grand Slam final.
Conclusion:
It was a fantastic tournament for Muguruza on her least favourite surface. Not only did she contest her first Grand Slam final, she also won a lot of fans with her aggressive game and charming personality. The crowning moment was when she received a lengthy applause from the centre court crowd as she collected her runners up trophy. It was a moment she will surely never forget.
Her two week journey showed that Muguruza has what it takes to become a top player. Whether she can fulfil it is another question all together. One thing is for certain- She solved her grass court puzzle.
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