Spain's Garbine Muguruza celebrates after beating Venus Williams of the United States to win the Women's Singles final match on day twelve at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London Saturday, July 15, 2017. (AP Photo/ Tim Ireland)
Spanish champion Garbine Muguruza out-powered Venus Williams to win her first Wimbledon title 7-5, 6-0 on Sunday.
Muguruza, who lost in the final at the All England Club in 2015, saved two set points in the 10th game of the first set, and then won nine straight games to win.
At 37, Williams was bidding for her sixth championship at the grass-court major, 17 years after her first. And she was so close to gaining the upper hand against Muguruza, holding two set points at 5-4 in the opener. But Muguruza fought those off and did not drop a game the rest of the way.
Venus Williams of the United States looks down after loosing a point against Spain's Garbine Muguruza during their Women's Singles final match on day twelve at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London Saturday, July 15, 2017. (AP Photo/Tim Ireland)
"She's such an incredible player," the 23-year-old Muguruza said about Williams during the trophy ceremony, then drew a laugh from spectators by adding: "I grew up watching her play."
In 2015, in her first Grand Slam final, Muguruza lost to Williams' younger sister, Serena.
"She told me one day I was going to maybe win," Muguruza said. "So two years after, here I am."
Muguruza defeated Serena in last year's French Open title match and, by adding this victory over Venus, the Spaniard becomes the first player to win a Grand Slam final against each member of the greatest Sister Act in sports.
With the Centre Court roof closed because of rain earlier in the day, creating echoes with each thwack of racket strings against ball by the two big hitters, Muguruza was too good down the stretch.
Williams began the proceedings with an ace to a corner at 109 mph (176 kph), but Muguruza quickly showed she would neither be overwhelmed by such booming serves nor the occasion. Williams is accustomed to parlaying that stroke into easy points, but Muguruza got back one serve at 113 mph (182 kph) on the match's second point, and another at 114 mph (184 kph) in the third game — and wound up winning the ensuing exchanges both times.
Still, Williams twice was a point away from winning the opening set, ahead 5-4 while Muguruza served at 15-40. On the first chance, a 20-stroke point ended when Williams blinked first, putting a forehand into the net. On the second set point, Williams sent a return long, and Muguruza pumped her fist.
It was as if getting out of that jam freed up Muguruza — and failing to capitalize on the opportunity deflated Williams. That began the match-closing nine-game run for Muguruza.
Williams began faltering, spraying shots to unintended spots — long, wide, into the net — while the younger, less-experienced Muguruza stayed steady, pounding groundstrokes with all her force. By the latter stages, with the ultimate outcome apparent, the only question was how lopsided the score would be.
Soon enough, Muguruza was being shown her name on the list of champions in the stadium's lobby — "Finally!" she said — and being greeted by former King Juan Carlos of Spain.
It was an anticlimactic conclusion to the fortnight for Williams, who was the oldest Wimbledon finalist since 1994. She hadn't made it this far at the All England Club since 2009, hadn't won the title since a year earlier.
"A lot of beautiful moments in the last couple of weeks," the American said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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