Muguruza dreams of title joy
Garbine Muguruza is determined to see her name inscribed alongside the greats of Wimbledon after securing a showdown with Venus Williams in tomorrow’s final.
The Spaniard tormented Magdalena Rybarikova for 65 minutes, clinching a second Wimbledon final appearance.
The thumping 6-1 6-1 win came against a Slovakian player who had said it was her childhood dream to play on Centre Court, but who might have nightmares about how it panned out. Now the 2015 runner-up will tackle five-time champion Venus Williams.
Seven-time Wimbledon queen Serena Williams was Muguruza’s conqueror two years ago and her name and that of Venus are unmissable on the board within the All England Club which lists all the former champions.
“I always stare at the wall where all the names are of the previous winners,” Muruguza said. “There are a lot actually thatarerepetitive.I’dliketosee my name there hopefully. I’m here, I have another chance”
Asked if there was a particular winner that inspired her, Muguruza said: “Not one (in particular) gives me motivation, because all the names that I read, I know all of them. For the last few years, you see a lot of the Williams surname. I look forward to putting a Spanish name there.”
One name on the board who has been an inspiration is 1994 Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez, who is with Muguruza at Wimbledon in the absence of her regular coach, Sam Sumyk.
“She’s helping me to deal with the stress of the tournament, because it’s a long tournament,” Muguruza said. “She knows how to prepare, how to train, what to do. To have her by my side gives me also this little confidence of having someone that has won before.”
Muguruza has lost three of her four career matches against Williams.
“She knows how to play, especially Wimbledon finals,” said Muguruza. “It’s going to be like a historic final again.”