Muguruza storms into 2nd final in 3 years
Masterful Venus oldest Wimbledon finalist for 23 years
Garbine Muguruza stormed into her second Wimbledon final in three years with a 6- 1, 6- 1 demolition of nerveridden Magdalena Rybarikova in just 64 minutes on Center Court on Thursday.
Muguruza, seeded 14th, took advantage of a woeful performance from the Slovak world No. 87 to secure her third Grand Slam final appearance.
The 23- year- old, beaten by Serena Williams in the 2015 Wimbledon final, will take on five- time champion Venus Williams in Saturday’s title match.
“I played very well for sure. Today I stepped on court super confident and everything went well,” Muguruza said.
“Once you are in these situations before you know how to handle them better. Definitely that helped me.
“I’m playing well. I want to keep it up for my last match and hopefully it goes well.
“I’m going to enjoy it. Being in a Grand Slam final is a great achievement.”
Since winning her maiden Grand Slam title at the French Open last year, Muguruza had endured something of a sophomore slump as her ranking dropped out of the top 10.
But she has rediscovered her mojo on grass, dropping the fewest games of any player in this year’s tournament after burying Rybarikova with 22 winners compared to eight from the Slovak.
Muguruza is guaranteed to regain her top- 10 ranking next week and would climb into the top five if she wins Wimbledon.
She is the first Spanish woman to reach more than one Wimbledon fi nal since Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the 1990s.
Rybarikova, the lowest- ranked Wimbledon semifi nalist for nine years, was making her fi rst Grand Slam last- four appearance at the 36th attempt.
That lack of big- game experience seemed to leave the 28- year- old para- lysed by stage fright and a limp double fault gifted Muguruza a break before the crowd had even got comfortable in their seats.
Although Rybarikova had an 18- 1 record on grass this season and knocked out new world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova in the second round, she looked completely out of her depth as Muguruza overpowered her from the baseline.
Another wayward backhand from the Slovak gave Muguruza a second break and, presented with a 4- 0 lead, the Spaniard closed out the set in emphatic style.
Muguruza is coached by Conchita Martinez, the only Spanish woman to win Wimbledon in 1994, and her compatriot’s knowledge has helped make her a formidable force on grass.
With Muguruza slugging away eff ec- tively with her ground strokes and mixing in occasional forays to the net, Rybarikova was outclassed.
Muguruza kept her stranglehold with a break at the start of the second set and when she broke again for a 3- 0 lead the mismatch was all over.
Venus Williams became the oldest Wimbledon finalist for 23 years as the American star ended Johanna Konta’s history bid with a masterful 6- 4, 6- 2 win.
Twenty years after making her Wimbledon debut, five- time champion Williams is into her ninth final at the All England Club and her first since 2009.
The 37- year- old’s sublime display of power- hitting on Center Court stopped Konta becoming the first British woman to make the final for 40 years.
Venus, aiming to win her first Wim- bledon title since 2008, took only 73 minutes to write her name in the history books as the oldest Wimbledon finalist since Martina Navratilova in 1994.
After losing the Australian Open final in January, the world No. 11 would be the oldest Wimbledon champion in the Open era – breaking her sister Serena’s record – if she collects her eighth Grand Slam crown on Saturday.
Venus’ 87th match win at Wimbledon took her past Serena into sole possession of first place among active players. With Serena at home preparing to give birth to her first child, Venus has picked up the baton and can make it a 13th Wimbledon title for the Williams family this weekend.