Muguruza strikes the perfect balance on grass

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  • Going far: Muguruza.

    What do you get when you try to be aggressive like Venus and Serena Williams, mentally strong like Maria Sharapova, and crafty like Martina Hingis? A place in the Wimbledon semi-finals – at least that’s how it worked for No 20 seed Garbine Muguruza.

    Muguruza is the first Spanish female grand slam semi-finalist since Conchita Martinez and Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario were in the last four at the 2000 Roland Garros and she is trying to bring back the glory days of Martinez, who is the only woman from Spain to win Wimbledon (1994).

    Born in Venezuela to a Spanish father and Venezuelan mother, Muguruza is a 21-year-old Barcelona resident who will be facing former runner-up and No 13 seed Agnieszka Radwanska in the Wimbledon semi-final on Thursday.

    Making her debut in the last four stage at a major, Muguruza will be looking to beat her fourth seed on the trot after dispatching 15th- seeded Timea Bacsinszky, fifth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki and 10th-seeded Angelique Kerber in her previous three rounds.

    Armed with a big serve and an aggressive style Muguruza made a splash when she beat Serena Williams at Roland Garros last year en route to the quarter-finals.

    She made the quarters again in Paris last month but although her game was theoretically perfect for grass, she had never found her footing on the surface prior to this fortnight.

    “I think the first tournament for me on grass was Birmingham. I said ‘I’m never coming back here’. I was like ‘I cannot play on grass’” she recalls of her first experience on turf.

    “I didn’t play (on grass) in Spain. So was very different. I couldn’t run. The bounce was weird. But after few years, everybody feels the same. Is just mentality.

    “I just think that earlier I was confused because I didn’t know if my game was going to be good on grass. Now I think grass helps me. So I’m happy that I found out.”

    Muguruza, who could enter the top-10 in the rankings for the first time should she reach the final, remembers Goran Ivanisevic’s Wimbledon triumph in 2001 as one of her most vivid memories of the Championships.

    But she says a number of legendary female players have helped shape the competitor she is today.

    “You see Williams sisters, the power, the confident they have in themselves. You see Maria (Sharapova), she has a very good mentality and she’s very focused during the whole match.

    “Or Hingis, she’s very talented. You just take few things and make your perfect player,” she says. 

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