New York: Long before Garbine Muguruza was the hottest player in women’s tennis and among the favourites for next week’s US Open, Serena Williams predicted her ascension.
It was two years ago, when Serena, the unrivalled queen of the sport, had just vanquished Muguruza in the Wimbledon final for her 21st Grand Slam singles title. “She said: ‘You’re going to win this in the future’,” the 23-year-old Spaniard recalled Thursday night during a TV interview. “But I don’t think she meant (while) playing her sister.”
Little did Serena know that Muguruza would overtake her a year later for the French Open title and then make good on her prophecy by besting sister Venus at Wimbledon this year.
Now with Serena sidelined for the impending birth of her first child, two-time Grand Slam winner Muguruza is delivering on the promise that could see her become the new face of women’s tennis.
And with two wins in her last four tournaments, she arrives at the Flushing Meadows here with a seemingly good formula to reach the second week at the US Open.
“Playing three tournaments (since Wimbledon) and lifting a trophy is a great preparation and I hope it’s going to help me,” Muguruza told reporters here Thursday.
“But I know even if you play a terrible match before a Grand Slam it doesn’t really matter, or if you win a tournament. We’ll see how it goes,” added the Spaniard who has risen to No.3 in women’s rankings after her recent triumph at Cincinnati.
For all of Muguruza’s natural gifts, including her powerful groundstrokes, wingspan and court coverage, she has yet to realise her best here and in four attempts has never advanced past the second round of the US Open.
Muguruza admitted the hard courts of Flushing Meadows have been a puzzle. “I feel like I’m going to try and not have a lot of expectations with New York,” stated the player. “Every time I have a little bit, it holds me a little bit back. I’m just going to go out there from zero. Forget about what happened previous years. It’s a new tournament,” Muguruza added.
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