Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza admits she has grown to love playing on grass after second Grand Slam triumph
The new Wimbledon champion Muguruza has played in only seven finals in her career but three of them have been at Grand Slam level
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Your support makes all the difference.Garbine Muguruza had never played on grass until she competed in the Wimbledon qualifying tournament of 2012, but the 23-year-old Spaniard has grown to love the surface. Two of her three appearances in Grand Slam finals have been here at the All England Club.
Having lost to Serena Williams on Centre Court in her first appearance in a Grand Slam final two years ago, Muguruza returned to win the title here today, beating Williams’ sister, Venus, in emphatic fashion.
“At the beginning I didn't like grass,” Muguruza admitted after her 7-5, 6-0 victory. “For sure I suffered to play and to handle it. It took me a while actually to calm down, to say: ‘Hey, it's grass, you have to adapt to the surface.’
“Once I played in this Wimbledon final [in 2015] everything changed for me because I felt like: ‘Stop complaining, your game suits this surface.’ Since that moment I'm like: ‘I like grass and I'm going to look in a positive way.’ It made a big difference to see it that way.”
Muguruza has played in only seven finals in her career but three of them have been at Grand Slam level. “I always come very motivated to the Grand Slams,” Muguruza said. “I came here thinking: ‘I'm prepared, I feel good.’ During the tournament and the matches, I was feeling better and better. Every match, I was increasing my level.”
Muguruza said she had expected a tough battle against Williams, which was one of the reasons she had been able to hold her nerve when she had to defend two set points when serving at 4-5 in the first set.
“I was expecting the best Venus,” Muguruza said. “I saw her and she was playing very well. I knew she was going to make me suffer and fight for it. When I had those set points against me, I was like: ‘Hey, it's normal. I'm playing Venus here.’
“I just kept fighting. And I knew that if I could play like I had played during the two weeks, I was going to have eventually an opportunity. I was calm. I thought: ‘If I lose the first set, I still have two more. Let's not make a drama’.”
Williams, meanwhile, refused to give any explanation for the way the match slipped away from her so quickly, other than to give credit to Muguruza. “She played really well,” Williams said when asked if she felt that either age or her health had caught up with her.
“I would have loved to have converted some of those points, but she competed really well. Credit to her. She just dug in there and managed to play better.”
As for her own performance, Williams admitted: “There were errors and you can't make them. I went for some big shots and they didn't land.”
Williams said she had had “a great two weeks” and was “looking forward to the rest of the summer.”
Asked how she would feel going into next month’s US Open, Williams said: “Definitely that I'm in good form. I've been in a position a lot of times this year to contend for big titles. That's the kind of position I want to keep putting myself in. It's just about getting over the line. I believe I can do that.”
Muguruza was asked if she could explain why she plays so well in the biggest events. “Once I go to the big court, I feel good,” she said. “I feel like that's where I want to be, that's what I practise for. That's where I play well. This is what I would like to do. I'm happy to go to the Centre Court and to play the best players. That's what motivates me.”
Muguruza’s regular coach, Sam Sumyk, has not been here because his wife is about to give birth. Muguruza has worked instead with Conchita Martinez, a former Wimbledon champion. “Obviously I like Conchita to be in my team because I have a great relationship with her,” Muguruza said.
Asked how Martinez had prepared her for a final against one of the game’s all-time greats, Muguruza said: “She just told me to go out there and forget about all of this, to try to think it was just another match. I had played two finals before, so I more or less know how to handle them. A little bit of everything.”
Muguruza’s warm smile is not always evident on court, but her sense of humour was clear in her post-match press conference. The Champions’ Ball, where the newly-crowned men’s and women’s singles champions traditionally danced together, was replaced 41 years ago by the more sedate Champions’ Dinner, but both the Spaniard and one of her questioners appeared unaware of the fact.
Asked whether she would like to dance with Roger Federer or Marin Cilic at Sunday night’s event, Muguruza laughed.
“Oh, come on!” she said.
On being pressed for an answer, Muguruza laughed again, paused and then said: “Roger! And I like Cilic. I have to say that seriously. But I want to see if he's that elegant also dancing.”
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