Women’s Final: [10] Venus Williams vs. [14] Garbine Muguruza (ESP)
Experience mattered not and neither did their head-to-head record; Muguruza was on a mission to prove that she belonged in the top ten and her French Open title was not a fluke. She defeated younger sister, Serena Williams, last year to claim the French Open title. Today she took another giant step forward, staking her claim in the history books, by defeating the five-time Wimbledon champion 7-5, 6-0 to win her first Wimbledon title and her second major title.
She did not handle the pressure of being shoved into the spotlight well when she made her first Wimbledon final in 2015; however, she backed up that performance by winning the French Open title the following year. Again, following that victory, there was a precipitous drop in her performance and frankly coming into this tournament, no one but her team may have even believed that she had a chance at winning this title. She had fallen out of the top ten and her confidence was shaky at best.
Muguruza is a brilliant tennis player; winning a Major title on two drastically different surfaces is a testament of her skill. There has never been any question about her ability as a tennis player; however, many questions remain about her ability to handle the burden of expectation. Can she maintain this high level day in and day out? She has proven that she struggles to stay consistently focused, especially after a big victory; yet, perhaps this time around after more experience, she will handle the pressure of expectation much better. If she can do that, there is no reason why she cannot be number one, which frankly is where she belongs given her skill.
Venus mentally collapsed in the second set, so unlike the five-time champion; however, although she did not win the title, it was a brilliant effort from her to reach the final at the age of thirty-seven.
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Yes…even though she didn’t win today…I’m still so proud of her to have reached the final of a major not once but twice this year. US Open….here she comes!!
She started so strong. Heartbreaking final for Venus fans.
So true, but I was concerned when she let those breaks points go by initially and then I was really concerned when she let the set points go. When she did not convert, I knew she was in trouble; however, I am still trying to figure out how she lost the second set 6-0. Was she injured? I really don’t know and the matched ended in a manner that is not Venus-like😩