By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, July 11, 2015
Serena Williams mastered her nerves and Garbine Muguruza, 6-4, 6-4, to capture her sixth Wimbledon title, claim her 21st career Grand Slam crown and complete the Serena Slam.
Photo credit: CameraSport/Stephen White
Signs of stress surrounded Serena Williams from the start of this Wimbledon final and threatened to trip her up at the finish line.
The world No. 1 spit up three double faults in the opening game then surrendered serve twice in a row trying to close, squandering a 5-1 second-set lead and throwing a life-line to first-time finalist Garbiñe Muguruza.
Grand Slam history posed a massive mental hurdle, but nothing—not heart-racing pressure, her bold 21-year-old opponent or her own grand ambition—would deny Serena on this day.
Clearing the clutter from her mind, Williams mastered the moment and Muguruza, 6-4, 6-4, to claim her sixth Wimbledon crown, her 21st Grand Slam title and complete the second Serena Slam of her career.
Twelve years after collecting her first Serena Slam, a giddy Williams raised the Rosewater Dish in exhilaration holding all four Grand Slam titles simultaneously while wearing a smile almost as wide as her Wilson racquet face.
"I can't believe I'm standing here with another Serena slam. It's really cool," the 33-year-old Williams told the Centre Court crowd. "It's incredible. There was definitely a little pressure toward the end. I think Garbine started playing really well and hit some great shots .. I'm having so much fun out here. I never dreamed I'd be out here still and playing and having so much fun."
It was Williams' 28th consecutive Grand Slam victory. Though she didn't play her best tennis throughout the title match, Williams beat the hard-hitting Spaniard to the ball, lifted her level at critical stages and played with more positive emotion to close.
"Physically, I'm really feeling pretty good. It was all pretty much mental out there," Serena told ESPN's Tom Rinaldi immediately after raising her Grand Slam final record to 21-4. "And playing an opponent out there who had nothing to lose. Me, trying to go for the Serena Slam so it was really exciting. I really can't believe it."
Disbelief crept across her face after a sloppy start.
Williams led the ceremonial walk onto Centre Court, won the coin toss, elected to serve, but could not fight through a thicket of jitters to find her serve. The most imposing server in the sport double-faulted three times bungling an eight-minute opener to donate the break. The self-assured Spaniard exploited three return errors backing up the break for 2-0.
Bending at the waist and exhorting herself into action, Williams began to find her range and rhythm. A 122 mph blast—her fastest serve of the match—stamped a hold for 2-3. A series of deep returns buzzing the Spaniard's shoelaces gave Williams double break point. Muguruza had lost seven of the last nine points, but regained her aggression, whipping the wide serve to set up forehand strikes. She won four consecutive points, withstanding her first test for 4-2.
Early nerves left Williams exasperated. She channeled jitters into positive energy imposing a love hold in 80 seconds. Williams caught a break when her framed return fell in, pushing Muguruza back and eventually drawing the error to break back for 4-4. Exhorting herself with a "come on Serena!", Williams won 12 of 16 points earning her first lead of the day.
The first-time finalist played free-flowing tennis with the lead, but her right arm was constricted and feet seemed stuck to the turf playing catch-up. Slapping her first double-fault of the day, Muguruza gifted set point. Williams pounced crunching a forehand winner to take the 44-minute opener with a clenched fist toward coach Patrick Mouratoglou.
At that point, Williams was reading the wide serve, stepping in to cut off the angle and ripping returns to her opponent's weaker forehand wing. Pounding out drives to elicit successive forehand errors, the top seed broke for 3-1. An overwhelming Williams streaked through 12 straight points extending her advantage to 5-1.
One game from the Serena Slam, Serena staggered.
Seeing the finish line sparked an adrenaline rush that rattled her. Williams played a hideous service game, gifting a love break. Muguruza slid a serve winner down the middle holding for 3-5.
Serving for history for a second time, Williams fell into a triple break-point hole. Muguruza was closing fast. Exploiting Muguruza's wide return stance—the Spaniard plants her right foot well into the doubles alley on the deuce side—Williams darted a 121 mph ace down the middle for championship point.
Closure was complicated.
Belting a forehand crosscourt, Muguruza erased championship point, won a 14-shot rally and broke for the second straight time for 4-5.
"I just thought 'Okay, pretend that you just held and you guys are still on serve because it was still 5-4,' " Williams told ESPN's Tom Rinaldi. "The first game, I didn't serve well when I served for it. The second time I served a little better, but my serve was really shaky today. Also, she's a great returner. She forced me to really go for a lot so I think she played really well."
Shrugging off that stumble, Serena stormed through the next game at love, capping a one hour, 22-minute victory when Muguruza's forehand sailed wide.
It took a moment for Williams to realize she'd won. Either uncertain of the score or anticipating a final challenge from her opponent, Williams wandered near the baseline. When she heard "game, set and match" announced Serena covered her mouth with her hand and broke into a winning smile.
Both the crowd and Williams showed their respect for the 20th-seeded Spaniard, showering Muguruza, who shed some tears before the trophy presentation ceremony, with a standing ovation.
"Don't be sad; you'll be holding this trophy very, very soon," Williams told Muguruza. "You're a great champion, believe me."
She's not a Grand Slam champion yet, but if the powerful Muguruza can strengthen her serve a bit, vary her return position and apply those net skills she's developed in doubles, her future is indeed quite bright. Meanwhile, Serena will likely take a summer vacation before gearing up for the Grand Slam where it all began for her.
Twenty-seven years after Steffi Graf joined Maureen Connolly and Margaret Court as the third woman to win the calendar Grand Slam—and the only woman to win the Golden Slam—Serena will arrive in New York City seeking to complete the calendar Grand Slam and match Graf's 22 career major titles.
Serena, who won her first Grand Slam title at the 1999 U.S. Open, will return to her hard-court roots prepared to cultivate history in Flushing Meadows.
The woman who quieted the London crowd beating British No. 1 Heather Watson and muted media requests for comment about her Grand Slam aims knows things will get very noisy in New York where she enjoys her loudest Grand Slam support.
"I'm gonna enjoy it. I've done well in New York, so far, but worst-case scenario I have another Serena Slam," Williams said. "And this is the first time I've ever won three Grand Slams in a calendar year so it's just a really cool time for me."