In a unique Tennis match that was entertaining, emotional and most certainly unconventional, Serena Williams won her fourth grand-slam of the year and her sixth Wimbledon title in a truly remarkable career. The final resulted in cheers for Williams and tears for the challenger, Gabrine Muguruza whose valiant effort against the peerless world number one earned her a standing ovation from a respectful Centre-court crowd.
The first game was an indication of just how special this match was going to be, as Williams struggled with her serve, committing three double faults and essentially gifting a break of serve to Muguruza. It seemed as though the occasion was getting to Williams and with both players being in the unusual position of making history no matter who won (as Williams looked for her “Serena Slam” and Muguruza hoped to deliver one of the biggest upsets in Wimbledon history) it was easy to see why. Williams seemed unable to find her range early on and Muguruza capitalised on this, forcing errors from the number one seed and striking some breath-taking aces of her own.
It wasn’t long however, before Williams regained control of the set, breaking back in the eighth game before winning the first set with the unreturnable service game and devastating backhands that have come to be expected from the American Tennis star. This style of play continued throughout the second set, as Muguruza looked unable to cope with the intense pressure being put upon her by the formidable Williams.
It was at this point, that the game took an unexpected turn, as Muguruza broke her opponent’s serve having been down five games to one. Williams once again looked uncertain with her service game, as her double fault count reached eight – just one below her ace count. Muguruza seized this opportunity to fight back and ensured that this would not be a simple walk-over for the five-time Wimbledon champion. Muguruza rallied the crowd with a confident comeback that moved Williams across the base-line and forced error after error.
Ultimately though, Williams had built herself too much of a cushion to let the match slip and Muguruza could not do enough to keep the championship title from the determined Serena Williams – who seized the match in the 10th game of the second set, in a somewhat anti-climactic but undeniably professional fashion. Though the 21 year old Spaniard was a worthy competitor (whose future in the sport is undeniably bright) it would appear as though Serena Williams is simply a cut above the rest. Williams’ dominance throughout the tournament has been a testament to her skill, her determination and her resilience and as a result she has proven herself to be quite unequivocally, the world number one.
James Candler
Image Credit: www.bbc.co.uk/sport