French Open 2016 | Muguruza stuns Serena to win her first grand slam

ByAmlan Majumdar, SportsCafe Editor

06/04/2016

Garbine Muguruza overpowered Serena Williams in the final of the French Open 7-5, 6-4 to win her first grand slam. With the win, She not only stopped Serena from matching Steffi Graf's grand slam record, but also became the first Spanish women to lift the title since Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario.

Serena Williams started the match on fire, holding her serve to love, and showing no signs of the adductor injury she is reportedly suffering from. She even served a second-serve ace in the third game, which caught out Muguruza off her guard. The fourth game of the first set turned out to be nothing short of a marathon. The game went on for 10 minutes as Williams kept earning break points and Muguruza kept saving them. Eventually, the Spaniard came out on top and kept the match on serve at 2-2.

Winning that tight game gave Muguruza all the confidence in the world and she broke Williams' serve in the 5th game, after the American star committed a double fault on break point. Both the players, who depend a lot on their first serves, were struggling to get their first serve in as the match went into a see-saw battle.

Both the players were looking to use their big forehands from the baseline and the Spaniard was managing to match Williams blow for blow. Muguruza consolidated her break with a fantastic service game to lead 4-2 in the first set. However, backed against the wall, Williams showed a lot of character and aggression to break back her opponent and eventually lead 5-4. But the fight did not last long though, as Muguruza broke Williams' serve for the second time in the set with a thumping forehand winner, and then won the set 7-5 with a majestic backhand winner.

That backhand though! 🙌 1st set to the Spaniard 7-5. #RG16 https://t.co/lM7AGRHQb3
— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) June 4, 2016

Both the players exchanged break of serves in the opening two games, but then Muguruza broke Serena back in the third game of the second set to take a 2-1 lead. The Spaniard came out firing all cylinders and played some aggressive shots both off her backhand and her forehand. Meanwhile, Williams' on the court movement was increasingly decelerating, as she showed the first signs of not being at her 100%.

Muguruza consolidated the lead with a solid serve game at 3-1 and it increasingly looked like the 22-year-old, who announced her arrival to the world with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Williams in the second round of this tournament two years ago, would defeat the 34-year-old for the second time in her career. At 5-3 Muguruza received two championship points on Serena's serve, but the American saved both of them. After five deuces, the last of which came from a double fault from Serena, in what turned out to be another marathon game, Serena saved four championship points to, eventually, win the game and make it 5-4. But it only delayed the inevitable.

Muguruza received 3 championship points on her serve at 40-0, and she finished off the match with a lobbed winner over Serena's head, which the veteran misread. The 22-year-old broke down in tears at the center of her court, as she won what could prove to be the first of many grand slams to come. Serena though, will have to wait a bit longer to equal the record that has been eluding her since the US Open last year.