Muguruza Advances to Her First Australian Open Quarterfinal

Posted on January 22, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Garbiñe Muguruza is one step closer to another Grand Slam title.

The 23-year-old Spanish-Venezuelan tennis player has booked a maiden Australian Open quarterfinals berth, cruising to a straight-sets win over Romania’s Sorana Cirstea.

Muguruza, who defeated Serena Williams in the final of last year’s French Open, rarely looked troubled on her way to a 6-2, 6-3 victory in just more than an hour on Sunday night.

She’ll next face American Coco Vandeweghe, who beat world No. 1 Angelique Kerber.

“It was a very important match for me because this is the third time that I’m in the round of 16 and I never go through,” Muguruza said.

“It means a lot. I always come here very motivated. To be in the quarterfinals is such a great achievement and I’m so looking forward to keep winning.”

Muguruza was able to capitalize on 26 unforced errors from world No. 78 Cirstea, who sought a medical timeout during the second set for treatment of a wrist injury.

Muguruza said she had grown in confidence since claiming her first grand slam title at Roland Garros last year.

“I know grand slams are very important,” Muguruza said.

“When you win one, you have that self-confidence and that belief in yourself that you can do it again.”

Puig Gives Puerto Rico Its First-Ever Olympic Gold at the 2016 Rio Games

Posted on August 14, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Monica Puig is Puerto Rico’s first-ever Golden Girl…

The 22-year-old Puerto Rican tennis player’s Cinderella run through the 2016 Rio Games has ended with a gold medal around her neck, and the first ever Olympic gold medal for her home country. She’s also the first female medalist representing La Isla del Encanto.

Puig defeated world No. 2 Angelique Kerber of Germany in the women’s singles final.

Ranked 32 places below her opponent, Puig dominated the final set with an aggressive display of offensive tennis to round off a well-deserved 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 victory.

Puig dropped to her knees after securing the win as fans, who had chanted “si se puede” throughout the match, proudly waved Puerto Rican flags in the crowd.

The upset win also meant Puig became the first unseeded player to become Olympic champion since women’s tennis was reintroduced at the 1988 Seoul Games.

Puerto Rico had won just eight Olympic medals — six bronze and two silver — prior to Puig’s success. Six of those were collected in boxing.

After besting two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the semifinals, Puig vowed to win gold for her compatriots back home. “It would mean the world,” she told reporters.

Earlier in the tournament, this year’s Cinderella also soundly defeated 2016 French Open champion Garbine Muguruza.

“It’s just amazing. I know my country really appreciates this and I really wanted to give this victory to them. And the way I did this victory tonight, I wouldn’t want it any other way,” she said during the press conference.

Puig One Win Away from Earning Puerto Rico’s First-Ever Olympic Gold Medal at the 2016 Rio Games

Posted on August 13, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

It’s either gold or silver for Monica Puig…

The 22-year-old Puerto Rican tennis player stunned two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the Women’s Signles semifinals, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, to advance to the Gold Medal match at the 2016 Rio Games.

Puig, who will face Angelique Kerber of Germany, has guaranteed Puerto Rico it’s ninth’s Olympic medal all-time, it made her the island’s first female medalist in any sport and gives her a chance to claim her country’s first-ever gold.

“For me it would mean the world,” said Puig. “It would be unbelievable and the biggest honor in the world. I’m doing it more for my country. This Olympics isn’t about me it’s about Puerto Rico and I know how bad they want this. This isn’t for me this is for them.”

Even Puig couldn’t have imagined she’d be in this position when the week began. Ranked 34th in the world, she owns just one career WTA title and has never been past the fourth round of a Grand Slam.

But she has found a different gear in Rio, upsetting French Open champion Garbine Muguruza and 11th-ranked Kvitova on her way to the final, double-jumping high into the air and covering her face with her hands as match point ended.

She also had significant support from the crowd, including a smattering of Puerto Rican flags waving through the stadium.

“I don’t think I’m so much a different play but my team sat me down after the first match her and said if you want to win you have to step it up and show everyone why you deserve to win,” she said. “That kind of changed my perspective. I have a lot of responsibility not just to myself but my country and if I want this I need to step it up.”

Muguruza Beats Serena Williams to Claim the French Open Title

Posted on June 5, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Garbiñe Muguruza has officially arrived…

The 22-year-old Spanish/Venezuelan tennis player defeated World No. 1 Serena Williams 7-5, 6-4 at the French Open on Saturday to claim her first-ever Grand Slam title.

Muguruza’s win prevented Williams from tying Steffi Graf‘s Open-era record of 22 Grand Slam titles for the third straight Grand Slam event.

In winning her first major, Muguruza used her powerful groundstrokes to keep Williams off-balance and overcame signs of nerves in the form of nine double-faults to pull off the upset win.

Muguruza also managed to deal with Williams’ dangerous serve, breaking three consecutive times from late in the first set to early in the second en route to beating Williams for the second time in three years at Roland Garros. In 2014, she handed Williams the worst loss of her Grand Slam career with a 6-2, 6-2 victory in the second round.

After letting four match points slip away in the penultimate game, Muguruza served out the match at love, punctuated by a high lob that caught the baseline as Williams watched.

The winning shot drew a smile from Williams’ face and she applauded Muguruza, who put her face in her hands and fell on her back in the red clay of Court Philippe Chatrier as her coach Sam Sumyk jumped from his chair and raised both arms in the air.

“She has a bright future, obviously,” said Williams, who at 34 is 12 years older than her Spanish opponent. “She knows how to play on the big stage and … clearly, she knows how to win Grand Slams.”

Muguruza, who lost to Williams in the 2015 final at Wimbledon, became the first Spanish woman to win a Grand Slam title since Arantxa Sanchez Vicario won the last of her three French Open crowns in 1998.

“I can’t explain with words what this day means to me,” Muguruza said after the match. “You work all your life to get here.”

Muguruza became just the fifth different woman to defeat Williams in a Grand Slam final, joining Angelique Kerber, Samantha Stosur, Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams — who beat her sister twice.

This year’s visit to Paris hardly could have started off more inauspiciously for Muguruza: She lost the very first set she played in the tournament, against 38th-ranked Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.

But Muguruza turned things around from there. She won the next 14 sets she played, displaying the deep groundstrokes and take-the-ball-early aggressiveness that flustered Williams.

“I have grown up playing on clay,” Muguruza said during the trophy ceremony, “so for Spain, and for me, this is amazing.”

Muguruza Defeats Petra Kvitova to Reach Semifinals at WTA Finals

Posted on October 31, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Garbine Muguruza has advanced to the semifinals at the WTA Finals in her first appearance.

The 22-year-old Spanish-Venezuelan tennis player beat former champion Petra Kvitova 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 on Friday to reach the semifinals.

Muguruza finished the round-robin stage 3-0 and needed to win only one set against Kvitova to earn a semifinal berth.

The other three players in the group all finished 1-2, but Kvitova advanced because of more sets won.

After losing to Muguruza, Kvitova needed the already-eliminated Lucie Safarova to beat Angelique Kerber without dropping a set, and her compatriot came through by winning 6-4, 6-3.

Kvitova will play Maria Sharapova, who won the other group, with Muguruza facing Agnieszka Radwanska in the other semifinal.

In a match that featured 15 breaks of serve, Muguruza converted her fourth match point with a backhand crosscourt volley to win in 2 hours, 33 minutes.

The Spaniard is also into the doubles semifinals with countrywoman Carla Suarez Navarro, and said the heavy workload is taking a toll.

“For sure I’m tired today,” Muguruza said. “It’s going to a challenge for me to see how much my body can handle, because now I don’t have a day off. It’s great to be in my position I think now, to be playing singles and doubles semifinals.”

Muguruza Defeats Angelique Kerber to Remain Undefeated at the WTA Finals

Posted on October 28, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Garbine Muguruza continues her winning ways…

The 22-year-old Spanish-Venezuelan tennis player, who won her first-ever match at her debut WTA Finals earlier this week, has improved to 2-0 in group-stage matches at the year-end event.

Muguruza, the tournament’s second seed, defeated Angelique Kerber 6-4, 6-4 Wednesday.

Muguruza broke Kerber twice in each set to wrap up the win in 1 hour, 38 minutes.

She’ll next play No. 4 seed Petra Kvitova later this week.

Muguruza Makes Winning Debut in Her First WTA Finals Appearance

Posted on October 27, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a winning debut for Garbine Muguruza.

The 22-year-old Spanish-Venezuelan tennis player won her first match at the WTA Finals.

Muguruza, the second-seed who was making her debut at the season-ending tournament, beat Lucie Safarova 6-3, 7-6 (4) on Monday.

Muguruza is the first Spaniard to play in the WTA Finals since Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in 2001.

“To go here, and play and win for the first time, it’s great,” Muguruza said. “So I feel now more calm, more in the tournament.”

Muguruza reached her first Grand Slam final this year at Wimbledon, losing to Serena Williams in straight sets.

She was the first Spanish woman to reach a Grand Slam final since Conchita Martinez lost the French Open final in 2000 and the first to do so at Wimbledon since Sanchez-Vicario in 1995 and 1996.

Next up for Muguruza will be Angelique Kerber in Wednesday’s evening session.

Muguruza Reaches Wimbledon’s Round of 16 with Upset Win Over Angelique Kerber

Posted on July 4, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Garbine Muguruza has pulled off an All-England Club upset…

The 21-year-old Venezuelan-Spanish tennis player dismissed former Wimbledon semifinalist Angelique Kerber in three sets in a third-round match on Saturday.

Muguruza is no stranger to causing a Grand Slam shock, having claimed the biggest scalp of them all in beating Serena Williams at the French Open last year.

But she had no Wimbledon track record to speak of, making a 7-6 (14/12) 1-6 6-2 victory over German 10th seed Kerber particularly impressive.

The tie-break that settled the opening set on Court Two was finally won when Muguruza put away a drive volley and then, on the next point, pressured Kerber to plant a forehand wide.

The setback didn’t deter Kerber, who swiftly leveled the match, but she then let her playing standards slip in the decider, and dropped serve twice on her way out of the tournament.

Muguruza, whose only Wimbledon win in two previous visits came against Britain’s Anne Keothavong in 2013, has Caroline Wozniacki in her sights after the Dane breezed through to the last 16.

Their clash on Monday was confirmed by Wozniacki’s 6-2 6-2 victory against Italian Camila Giorgi on Court One.

Wozniacki, the former world number one, has never been beyond the fourth round at Wimbledon, and will be aiming to avoid a fifth defeat at that stage when she tackles Muguruza.

Garcia Upsets Agnieszka Radwanska at China’s Wuhan Open

Posted on September 23, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Caroline Garcia has upset on the brain…

Following her first-round win over Venus Williams, the 20-year-old half-Spanish tennis player pulled off another big upset win, defeating fifth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska on Monday at the inaugural Wuhan Open in China.

Garcia went for broke, continuing to hit big ground strokes despite piling up unforced errors as she tried to keep Radwanska on the back foot.

“It’s pretty different game between Venus and Radwanska, but I did the same game for myself,” Garcia said. “Against these kind of girls like Radwanska you have to do (this kind) of game … sometime you can miss, but I knew it was the only way I can win this today.”

Garcia, currently ranked No. 41 in the world, avenged a loss to Radwańska at the Mutua Madrid Open in May, where she’d reached the quarterfinals of a Premier WTA event for the first time. She’d defeated Angelique Kerber in the first round after the German retired with a lower back injury, receiving a walkover from Maria Kirilenko after the Russian withdrew with a wrist injury, and then defeating tenth seed Sara Errani in three sets in the third round. She eventually lost to third seed Radwańska in the final eight stage, in three sets.

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