Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new champion of clay!
Garbine Muguruza won her first Grand Slam title at the French Open on Saturday defeating top seed and defending champion Serena Williams in the final.
The Venezuelan-born Spaniard upset the odds to win 7-5, 6-4, as for Williams it was a second straight loss in a Grand Slam final and it wrecked her hopes once again of winning a 22nd Grand Slam title to draw level with Steffi Graf for most wins in the Open era, since 1968.
Muguruza said after the match:
I am so excited to play the final of a Grand Slam against one of the best ever players. It’s the perfect final and I am so happy. I grew up on clay so for Spain and me this is just amazing. Serena is a very powerful player and I just tried to fight as hard as I can.
Here’s all you need to know about this new champion on the block:
- Born on 08th October, 1993 in Caracas, Venezuela. She now resides in Geneva, Switzerland. Her mother (Scarlet Blanco) is from Venezuela and father (Jose) is Spanish.
- She has just won three career titles so far and this is her first major. Won her first singles title at Hobart in 2014 and ended the year ranked 21 in the world.
- Twelve years younger than the American at 22, Muguruza was playing in the first-ever claycourt final of her career!
- She is the first Spanish woman to win a Grand Slam title since Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in Paris in 1998.
- Dropped only a single set on her way to the title!
- For the third straight slam, we have seen a first-time Grand Slam winner after Flavia Pennetta at last year’s US Open and Angelique Kerber at the Australian Open.
- Following her title win in Paris, her new world ranking will be number 2!
- Serena Williams and Pete Sampras were her favourite tennis players as a child!
- Began playing tennis aged three. Trained at the Bruguera Tennis Academy near Barcelona. Turned pro in 2011 and won four titles on the ITF circuit.
- Breakthrough season in 2015. Won the Beijing title and reached Wimbledon final and qualified for WTA Finals, where she reached the semis. Rose to world number three by end of year.
- Slow start to 2016, but form returned at Miami where she reached last 16 and lost a tight battle against Victoria Azarenka. Semi-finalist in Rome.
- Coached by Frenchman Sam Sumyk who has also worked with Victoria Azarenka and Eugenie Bouchard.
The players took contrasting routes to get to the final. Fourth seed Muguruza breezed through, losing just the one set, in her opening match, while Williams struggled past the quarter- and semi-finals amid talk of an injury or illness.
“Congratulations to Garbine, she played really well today,” said Williams, who confirmed that she had been slightly troubled by an adductor problem.
“I could have served better, made a lot of errors on return, but I did try hard out there.”
She will now turn her focus on Wimbledon where she will be the defending champion and a six-time former winner.
(With AFP, Reuters inputs. Featured image: AFP)