Garbine Muguruza stunned Serena Williams to claim her maiden Grand Slam win at the French Open on Saturday. The Spaniard, 22, put in a powerful and composed display in her first clay court final to seal a 7-5 6-3 win.
Williams, who has won this tournament three times and 21 Grand Slam titles in all, started brightly, forcing a break point in the fourth game but, in a sign of things to come Muguruza seized the moment and forced an error from her American opponent with a powerful first serve.
The fourth-seeded Spaniard, runner up at Wimbeldon last year, kept her cool despite missing her first two set points to take the first set after nearly an hour.
She maintained her momentum in the second, breaking Williams in the first set. The American responded, breaking straight back, before Muguruza again broke the Williams serve.
Despite the gap in Grand Slam experience Muguruza was not cowed by what her opponent threw at her, the Spaniard consistently hitting the lines with powerful shots on both forehand and backhand. She was particularly fierce on Williams second serve.
The Spanish player missed a series of Championship points in the ninth game on Williams’ serve as the pressure started to tell. But despite losing that game, she raced in to a 40-0 lead in the following game before an inch perfect lob brought tears to Muguruza’s eyes and huge cheers from the crowd.
More to follow
