French Open: Settled Muguruza happy to fly flag for Spain in Nadal's absence

Spaniard won women's title on Saturday following earlier withdrawal of compatriot

A relaxed Garbine Muguruza shows off her French Open spoils in Paris on Sunday (Getty)

When Rafael Nadal pulled out of the French Open because of injury after the second round, Spanish tennis was in shock.

“We all saw the news,” Garbine Muguruza said here on Saturday night. “We were like: ‘Oh, Roland Garros will not be the same.’ I said to my coach: ‘Federer and Nadal are not here. What’s it going to be like when they’re not playing? It’s going to be a disaster’.”

How wrong Muguruza was proved to be as the 22-year-old Spaniard herself went on to register her first Grand Slam triumph, beating Serena Williams 7-5, 6-4 in the final after a memorable performance of controlled aggression.

Her compatriots Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez underlined Spanish joy later in the day by beating the Bryan brothers to claim the men’s doubles title.

Spain has long had a tradition of success here thanks to the likes of Manuel Santana, Sergi Bruguera, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario and Nadal, but Muguruza, who has a Venezuelan mother and a Spanish father, is not in the same tradition as most of her compatriots. Being 6ft tall and having long arms and legs, she does not look like a typical Spanish player.

“When I started playing I played in the Spanish style, which is a little bit more defensive and longer points,” Muguruza said.

“Then I grew up and my body was not like a Spanish player’s. I was tall, I had a powerful game and my arms were long. So I was like: ‘No, you can’t play like most Spanish players do. You have to go for it, hit harder, kind of more Russian style.’ It works for me.”


 Rafa Nadal's premature departure from the tournament left Garbine Muguruza to fly the flag for Spain (Getty)

In the final Muguruza attacked from the start, driving Williams back with a succession of thumping ground strokes.

Patrick Mouratoglou, Williams’ coach, said the world No 1, foiled again in her attempt to match Steffi Graf’s Open era record of 22 Grand Slam singles titles, paid the price for not consistently matching her opponent’s aggression.

“Serena was well below her best level,” Mouratoglou said, adding that, contrary to what most observers thought, his player did not have any injury problems.

“She played too short and wasn’t nearly aggressive enough on her returns. Garbine was more aggressive and played with much more purpose on her returns and in the rallies.”

In winning her first Grand Slam title Muguruza reversed the result of her only other appearance in a Slam final, when she lost to Williams at Wimbledon last summer.

There were times in the months after that breakthrough when Muguruza struggled with the weight of her own expectations, as much as other people’s.

“It was very tough at the beginning of the year for Garbine, dealing with the mental side,” Conchita Martinez, Spain’s Fed Cup captain, said.

“She thought that she had to win every match. She was very tense and nervous in some matches. But if you work hard and settle into yourself and you go for it, at the end things are going to work out.”

Muguruza said: “I’ve already put behind me this story about the expectations. Sometimes it’s not a good thing to think about. Now what I am going to look for is to try and keep my level and forget about all this ‘I have to win’ and ‘Garbine has to win’ crap.”

She added: “The best players are consistent. There is no secret. You can’t be the best player if suddenly you play well and the next day you play badly. But it’s difficult to always perform well, to always go on the court and win and hit great shots. It takes a lot of time and a long learning process, but I feel I’m going in the right direction.”

At 22 Muguruza is 12 years younger than Williams. “I have watched Serena since I was a child, but you’ve got to forget about that because if not, you are not going to play,” the Spaniard said. “I wanted to win here, I wanted to be the champion, so I tried to put that aside, just concentrate on my game and go for it, forget that it was Serena Williams in front of me.”

Muguruza will go to No 2 in the world rankings on Monday and knows that she will be a marked player from now onwards.


 Muguruza's victory over Serena Williams in Paris will take her up to second in the world rankings (Getty)

“I prefer to be hunted than to be the other way around,” she insisted.

“I think all the top players are a little bit hunted. Everybody that plays against a top player is like: ‘Oh, I don’t have anything to lose. I will play my best game. If I win, amazing, but if I lose it’s normal.’ That’s sometimes what I hear. ‘Oh I have to play against a top seed. Oh well, I will see what happens.’ But that’s normal. I like being in this position. The other players are going to be looking to beat me.”

Muguruza’s first appearance of the grass-court season will be at the new tournament in Majorca, which starts in a week’s time. She said she had not even thought about Wimbledon, which starts a fortnight later.

“She is a natural on clay but she has a very good chance at Wimbledon,” Martinez said. “I think she can beat anybody. Her game works on grass because she is very aggressive, she hits the ball hard and goes for her shots. She can serve very well.

“Her mentality is much better than a year ago. She has played seven matches here. The first was a bit shaky, but that can be normal in a Grand Slam. She is a really nice girl and she is a good team player. There are lot of good players around, but she is one of the favourites for Wimbledon.”

Billie Jean King, who presented the trophy to Muguruza, thinks the Spaniard’s victory represents a changing of the guard in women’s tennis.

“She has such power,” King told L’Equipe. “Her backhand is phenomenal. She can hit as well cross-court as down the line, which makes her extremely dangerous.

Muguruza has been tipped to remain at the top of the women's game (Getty) (This content is subject to copyright.)

“And 22 is the perfect age to win your first Grand Slam. Martina [Navratilova] won her first Wimbledon at 22. I won my first Wimbledon at 22. We had time to improve tennis-wise and physically. Winning at 17 can be dangerous. Playing the Wimbledon final last year helped her win here. One thing is certain: her victory will give ideas to other players of her generation.”

However, Sam Sumyk, Muguruza’s coach, who also guided Victoria Azarenka to her first Grand Slam title in 2012, disagrees that this signals the end of the Williams era.

“It’s much too early to say that,” he said. “She’s still there and I hope she keeps playing for a long time. She’s a fantastic player and we need her.”

Nevertheless, there is no doubt that women’s tennis has been in need of some new blood. Muguruza, with her attacking tennis, elegance and engaging personality, can be a major figure in the sport for years to come.

“I’m a very open person,” she said. “I like to do stuff. I’m not, like, sitting there not doing anything. There’s also a life after tennis. When I get away from the site I like to disconnect a little bit, because it can all be too much. I like to listen to music, hang out with family and friends, dance, sing, everything.”

Muguruza’s fans have certainly enjoyed some of the online videos of her dancing, but she added with a laugh: “Sometimes I share stuff and I’m like: I shouldn’t be sharing this.”