Serena Williams v Garbiñe Muguruza: Wimbledon women's singles final – as it happened | Sport | The Guardian
Serena Williams v Garbiñe Muguruza: Wimbledon women's singles final – as it happened
Updated
Serena Williams celebrates with the trophy on her head after winning against Garbine Muguruza. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA
Saturday 11 July 2015 11.10 EDT
First published on Saturday 11 July 2015 08.00 EDT
11:01
Is there any stopping Serena? Andy Roddick, who has known her since they were both very young, says he has never seen her so determined. She has history in her sights now, just three slams away from joining Margaret Court on 24 titles.
10:57
Here’s Kevin Mitchell’s swiftly-filed match report from a breathtaking final:
Serena Williams sealed concurrent ownership of the four major championships in her sport, beating the bright young Spaniard Garbiñe Muguruza 6-4, 6-4 in an hour and 23 minutes to win her sixth Wimbledon. If the 33-year-old American can retain her US Open title in September, she will also have a calendar-year grand slam at last – and all talk of the legitimacy of the “Serena slam” will be shelved forever – as well as drawing alongside the record 22 majors owned by Steffi Graf.
However, she did not make it easy for herself in this in her 25th slam final. It’s all very well having the biggest serve in tennis but if you fail to land six of them in the box in the first game of a grand slam final against a hungry young contender like Muguruza, life gets complicated.
Serena Williams beats battling Garbiñe Muguruza to win Wimbledon
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10:08
2nd set: Williams* 2-1 Muguruza (*denotes most recent server) Williams won first set 6-4
Two successive double faults from Williams at 15-0 up. That’s six for the match now and certainly out of character. She’s tensing up a little and looks visibly frustrated, raising her arms to the sky. 30-30, though, following a long backhand from Muguruza, and despite a rare first serve earning Serena a 40-30 advantage, her opponent fights back for deuce. Half-chance perhaps? No. Ace from Williams before another brilliant serve to take the game. That was a relatively bizarre one. Two doubles yet a 123mph ace in the same game! It remains on serve in the second set.
09:57
1st set: Williams 6-4 Muguruza* (*denotes most recent server)
Williams smacks a backhand crosscourt winner to go 0-15 up. She seems to be anticipating the Muguruza serve much better now, returning deep and with real pace. A wild forehand from the Spaniard gifts Serena a 15-30 lead as the pressure grows, but what a shot from the back of the court from Muguruza – right on the baseline, hopping up off the chalk and wrong-footing Serena a wee bit. She wins the next point and the game goes to deuce, but oh no! A double fault at the worst time! Set point for Serena and she duly takes it with a brilliant shot from deep onto the line! Williams takes the first set!