LONDON (Reuters) - An inspired Garbine Muguruza stormed to her first Wimbledon title on Saturday, blowing away in-form American Venus Williams 7-5 6-0 with arguably the performance of her career after tight and tense early exchanges.
In the first women’s final played under the Centre Court roof, a high-quality first set gradually built toward a captivating conclusion after both players began with two comfortable service holds.
Muguruza saved two set points in the 10th game, the first a 19-stroke rally that ended when Williams netted a forehand. The Spaniard broke in the following game when another lung-bursting rally ended on a forehand error from the American.
An astonishing defensive lob in the next then took Muguruza to two set points, the second of which she converted.
That three-game sequence seemed to break the resolve of the American who, trying to become the oldest woman to win Wimbledon for 109 years, lost the second set to love in an equally astonishing turnaround.
The Venezuela-born 23-year-old sealed her second grand slam victory after a successful Hawkeye challenge of a Williams forehand that sailed just beyond the baseline.
(Reporting by John Stonestreet, editing by Pritha Sarkar)