Garbine Muguruza is making history at the 2017 Wimbledon Championships. Despite having a slow grass court warm-up, the Spanish player regrouped herself to reach her second Wimbledon final after her maiden appearance in a Grand Slam final back in 2015 also at Wimbledon. Ranked 15 in the world prior to Wimbledon due to her lack of success at the French Open (she was the defending champion in Paris and made it only to the round of 16), Garbine Muguruza was not on the favorites sheet. To adjust from clay to grass she made two appearances at Birmingham and Eastbourne.
She reached the semis of the first event while in Eastbourne she suffered a shocking defeat 6-1 6-0 by Barbora Strycova. But all these are done and dusted as the sun shines again up in her sky. She made it to the final of Wimbledon dispatching Magdalena Rybarikova in two compelling sets 6-1 6-1. The encounter lasted a bit over an hour.
Muguruza was in a hurry while Rybarikova seemed tired
At 23 years of age and judging her background over the past few seasons, Muguruza is in pole position for becoming one of the leaders of her generation. The upcoming final is the third one she will feature in. And that's not a thing too many active WTA players can brag about. Booking a ticket for the final didn't come easy as the was in a difficult part of the women's singles draw.
She had to deal with Angelique Kerber in the round of 16 while in the quarterfinals she got past Kuznetsova. The semifinal saw her racing past an apparently tired opponent. On the other side of the net, the 28-year-old Slovakian called an end to her tremendous grass court adventure. Over the past few weeks on this surface, she gathered some impressive numbers under her belt.
The grass court swing totals 18 wins and only two losses for the Slovakian player. So, it's not a surprise that she was left without fuel after having such a grueling schedule.
Garbine Muguruza can adapt to any type of surface
Reaching a Grand Slam final on two different surfaces like clay and grass gives a clue of how good Muguruza's game of tennis can be.
Struggling with form and injuries over the past few months, she is now in a position to make a clear statement. Entering Wimbledon, she was 23/13 in the win/loss ratio. Moreover, reaching the final will put her back in the top 10 of the WTA circuit. If she wins, she will climb to the fifth place in the general ranking. Last year, she failed to defend the runner-up status of the previous season losing in the round of 64 to Jana Cepelova (124 WTA at that time).
