Garbiñe Muguruza hasn’t had too much time to revel in her maiden Grand Slam triumph. Not long after stunning World No.1 Serena Williams to win the French Open, the Spaniard had to shift focus to yet another major tournament, one played on courts that serve as a stark contrast to slow red clay.
“I just have to keep a totally open mind,” she told press after her opening round loss at the Mallorca Open. “I came to Mallorca with very little time to prepare. I mean, yesterday I was still in Paris, and this is a totally different surface.
“The truth is I’m disappointed, but now I’m just training harder to arrive ready for Wimbledon.”
While many French Open champions tend not to grab too many headlines as the tour takes over the All England Club, all eyes will be on Muguruza to see if she can back up last year’s breakthrough fortnight, when she upset Agnieszka Radwanska to reach the final – becoming the first Spanish woman to make it that far since Conchita Martinez in 1994.
“Oh man, I barely remember the last time. It’s been over a year since my [Wimbledon] final, and it feels like ages since I last stepped on grass. But sure, it brings me great memories, even though grass isn’t a surface I’ve always loved – I didn’t used to like it at all.”
While back-to-back quarterfinal appearances foreshadowed this year’s title run at Roland Garros, the Spaniard had won a grand total of one main draw match at Wimbledon, and was perilously close to elimination in bother her second and third round matches to Mirjana Lucic-Baroni and Angelique Kerber before catching fire in the second week.
“I’ve learned to love it more lately, with time. And then reaching the final at Wimbledon, that was something so special.
“It’s always a hard switch, especially the first few days on grass, but there’s little tricks to help adjust.”
Playing her first major final, she played Williams through two tough sets, admitting to nerves playing a part in keeping her from stepping over the finish line.
“I felt I had a lot of opportunities against her, and I just thought in Wimbledon I was very nervous,” she said after winning in Paris. “I couldn’t really control that.”
After losing the opening set of her first round, Muguruza looked in complete control in Paris, rolling over the field and winning 12 straight sets en route to the title and a new career-high ranking of No.2. Whether the quantum leap in her resume gives her more confidence remains to be seen, but seems to know she can’t rest on her laurels.
“When you step out onto the court, it doesn’t matter if, last week, you’ve just won a Grand Slam, in the end it comes down to who can play their best on that day.”
Muguruza’s career has already been full of the highest of highs and lowest of lows; it took her until the Asian Swing to recover from reaching last year’s Wimbledon final, but she made up for lost time in style, going undefeated in round robin play of her BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global debut.
This season, but contrast, has been a slow build, putting one solid result on top of another before she was able to climb up and grab a piece of Grand Slam glory. A steep drop-off wouldn’t be out of character, but certainly out of step for a player who has not only evolved into a Grand Slam contender, but a Grand Slam champion.
Click here to read more about this year’s Wimbledon Contenders, courtesy of WTA Insider.
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
