Muguruza makes maiden slam final
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GARBINE Muguruza took control early, lost the momentum and then held on at the end to beat Agnieszka Radwanska and reach her first grand slam final at the All England Club.
The 21-year-old lost six games in a row in one stretch but regrouped to defeat Poland’s Radwanska 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 yesterday, becoming the first Spanish woman to advance to the Wimbledon final since Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in 1996.
Muguruza dropped face-first onto the grass after hitting a swinging forehand volley for a winner on match point.
On the previous point, Radwanska held up her racket in the middle of the point to challenge a shot from Muguruza that landed near the baseline. The video replay showed the ball had caught the back of the line, giving the point to the Spaniard.
The second semifinal pitted five-time champion Serena Williams against 2004 winner Maria Sharapova. Williams, who has won 26 straight slam matches, is chasing her fourth straight major title. She also is bidding for the third leg of a calendar-year grand slam, a feat last sealed by Steffi Graf in 1988.
Sanchez-Vicario was the last Spanish woman to make the final at the All England Club while Conchita Martinez was the last champion in 1994.
Muguruza had to endure some nervy moments before she secured her maiden grand slam final spot, seeing a 3-1 lead in the second set disappear against the three-time semifinalist.
Muguruza, who has only one tour title to her name, then took victory with a power-packed flowing forehand, her 39th winner of the contest.
“I have worked all my life for this, I have no words,” said 20th seed Muguruza who will climb into the top 10 for the first time next week as a result of her performance at Wimbledon.
“It was a tough match. Agnieszka has so much experience but I just wanted to keep fighting.”
Muguruza said she expected her family to fly in to see tomorrow’s final having told them to stay away so as not to jinx her progress. “My mother, father and brother will come over — I didn’t want them to come before in case things changed.”
Muguruza will be the underdog in the final. She trails Sharapova 0-3 and Williams 1-2 although she did defeat the American at the French Open last year.
The Spanish player, contesting her first grand slam semifinal after back-to-back runs to the French Open quarterfinals in 2014 and 2015, had enjoyed an impressive tournament.
She had knocked out fifth seed Caroline Wozniacki and 10th-seeded Angelique Kerber to make the last four.
Radwanska, the 2012 runner-up, hadn’t faced a player inside the top 20.
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