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Garbine Muguruza has taken the tennis world by storm. She is the eight-most searched for player on the WTA site, but more importantly she is the future of women’s tennis.
Said to be cheery and soft spoken off-court, the 22-year-old has an aggresive mindset on court, attacking from the word go.
The Venezuelan-born Spaniard recorded the best performances of her career this season, which took her all the way to number 3 in the year-end rankings.
This is a monumental rise in the rankings for the young sensation, who finished at a 21ranking in 2014. In doubles, she held onto 16th spot after winning multiple doubles titles this season.
Wimbledon 2015: The rise of Muguruza
The highlight, however, was her meritorious performance on the hallowed grounds of Wimbledon. Her promising performance won the hearts of millions of girls and tennis buffs around the world. A bold and focussed Muguruza took out four top 15 opponents to book her place in the finals of most prestigious tournament in world tennis.
Muguruza usurped world number 10 Angelique Kerber, world number 5 Caroline Wozniacki, number 15 Timea Bacsinzky and world number 13 Agnieszka Radwanska en route to her maiden Grand Slam finals.
She played some of the most attacking tennis in the tournament before ceding dominance to the world number 1 and 21 times singles Grand Slam champion Serena Williams in the finals. This might just be an indication of things to come as women’s tennis switches from one generation of players to another.
After triumphing over Muguruza in the finals, World No. 1 and arguably the GOAT, Williams had this to say about her younger Spanish rival:
I didn't even know it was over! She'll be holding this trophy very soon, believe me.
Muguruza posted impressive performances in other slams as well. She equalled her best performances at the French Open and the Australian Open, reaching the quarter-finals and 4th round in those tournaments respectively.
At the Australian Open, Muguruza bageled all of her first three round opponents in the final set, showcasing her dominance and mental advantage over other players on tour. At the French Open, she beat German Kerber in the round of 32 after coming back from a set down.
This has certainly been a breakthrough year for Muguruza, who has played some of her best tennis on the Asian circuit.
In Tokyo, she reached the quarter-finals in the singles, wiinning the title partnering compatriot Carla Suarez Navarro in doubles. Her great form continued as she reached the finals of Wuhan in singles and quarter finals in the doubles, unfortunately forced to retire in both matches.
At Beijing, however, it all came together for the young Spaniard who won the title and climbed to number 4 ranking.
Muguruza’s consistently good performances won her a place in the WTA finals in both singles and doubles, which in itself is a remarkable achievement.
She did not disappoint as she reached the finals in doubles but had to surrender to the mighty pairing of Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza.
In singles, she won all of her round 1 matches taking out Kvitova, Kerber and Safarova in back to back matches. However, facing Radwanska in the semi-finals, the more experienced Radwanska won coming from a set down winning 6-7 6-3 7-5.
All these performances reveal the overflow of talent in this young and ambitious tennis player. Her words reflect her respect for the tennis legends who have gone before her.
Muguruza is a future and present tennis star and definitely a worthy contender for the world number 1 ranking once Serena is done with her dominance. Summed up are these statistics, indicating Muguruza’s incredible head to head record against the top 10 players of the world.
| Against ( ranking in brackets) | Head to Head in 2015 | Head to Head in career |
| Serena Williams (1) | 0-2 | 1-3 |
| Simona Halep (2) | 1-1 | 2-1 |
| Maria Sharapova (4) | 0-0 | 0-3 |
| Agnieszka Radwanska (5) | 4-1 | 4-3 |
| Petra Kvitova (6) | 1-0 | 1-0 |
| Venus Williams (7) | 0-1 (ret) | 0-3 |
| Flavia Pennetta (8) | 1-0 | 3-0 |
| Lucie Safarova (9) | 1-1 | 1-1 |
| Angelique Kerber (10) | 4-1 | 4-3 |
2016 will be an important year in Muguruza’s career. She has a good attacking style of play and a positive mindset. She believes she can beat the best and be the best. When she played against her idol Serena Williams, she showed no signs of nerves which is impressive at such a young age. Muguruza is a promising talent and a consistent performer. I have no doubts that her performances at Grand Slams and Masters events in 2016 will continue to improve and she can must aim for a world number 2 season rank ending for 2016.
