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Twenty-year-old Garbina Muguruza of Spain was the toast of the French Open Wednesday after stunning top-seeded Serena Williams in straight sets in the second round. However, she lost her chance in the quarterfinals of beating both Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, something that has never been done before in a tournament.
Very tough loss today. Each day closer to my goal and more motivated! But Ey! Still doubles! Tomorrow more!
— Garbiñe Muguruza (@GarbiMuguruza) June 3, 2014
Muguruza went down with a hard fight in the quarterfinals match against Sharapova, winning the first set 1-6, but losing the last two 7-5, 6-1 to the veteran. She was one game away from the semifinals when Sharapova made a huge comeback to steal the win.
Here’s what you need to know about the 20-year-old Spaniard:
1. She Needed Only 64 Minutes to Beat Williams in the French Open
Muguruza, the 35th-ranked player in the world, didn’t just beat Williams. She demolished the 17-time Grand Slam champion 6-2, 6-2 in just 64 minutes, handing Williams her most lopsided loss ever in a Grand Slam tournament.
The win avenged a rout at Williams’ expense in the 2013 Australian Open, when Williams beat Muguruza 6-2, 6-0.
Watch the highlights of the match above.
2. Her Best Career Win Was Against Serena Williams
An elated Muguruza could hardly believe she had dispatched Williams when addressing the media at her post-match news conference:
“Very happy,” she said. “Very excited. It’s my biggest win so far.”
She said Williams told her if she continued to play like she did Wednesday, she’d win the tournament, to which Muguruza said she replied: “I’ll try.”
Watch the video above.
3. She Beat Caroline Wozniacki in the Australian Open
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Prior to beating Williams, the most high-profile win of Muguruza’s career came in January at the Australian Open, when she beat former World Number 1 Caroline Wozniacki in the third round.
4.She Won the Hobart International in January
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Muguruza beat Klára Koukalová of the Czech Republic in straight sets in January to win the Hobart International in Australia, a warmup for the Aussie Open, after entering the tournament as a qualifier ranked 58th in the world.
Here’s how the tournament website described her victory in the title match:
The rising star had too much power for her veteran opponent, blowing her away with her groundstrokes on Saturday to become the second qualifier to win Hobart in three tournaments.
5. Serena Williams Was Her Favorite Women’s Player Growing Up
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According to her WTA bio, the woman Muguruza routed Wednesday was her favorite women’s player growing up. (Williams and Sampras are listed as her favorite players.)
Muguruza, who was born in Venezuela but now lives in Barcelona, Spain, is the daughter of a Venezuelan mother and a Spanish father. She has two brothers: Asier, who’s an engineer, and Igor, an economist.
Muguruza started playing tennis with her brothers when she was just 3 years old.
