The tennis world crowned its new princess today when Garbine Muguruza dispatched a bewildered Serena Williams in two sets. Young Muguruza managed to excel where other women have struggled- to return the Williams serve and keep her deep behind the baseline. Dominating the match, the elegant Spaniard stunned the mighty American to win her first grand slam. Many believe this is the first of more to come for the promising young Muguruza.
And she wasn’t the only Spaniard to take home silverware. The men’s doubles final saw the new duo, Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez, triumph over the well-known Bryant brothers in three sets.
Even in the absence of Rafa Nadal, it was a winning day for Spain.
Novak Djokovic [1] vs Andy Murray [2]
No matter how tomorrow plays out, one man will win his first French Open title.
Novak Djokovic will try to follow Rod Laver as the next man to hold all four Grand Slam titles at once. With a win, Djokovic would join Laver, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andre Agassi, Roy Emerson, Don Budge and Fred Perry, as the only men who have won all four majors.
If Andy Murray were emerge victorious, this would position him one unclaimed slam away from joining that coveted list himself. Previously winning 2012 U.S Open and 2013 Wimbledon, the Scot would next look to the Aussie Open to complete his collection.
When an injured Rafa dropped out, both seeds must have heaved collective sighs of relief, particularly Novak who consequently had an easy path to the final. He encountered no real competition- aside from freakish weather conditions.
Murray however, contended with the two biggest servers in the game, followed by an inspired crowd-backed Gasquet, and finally the defending champ, Stan Wawrinka. He has risen to each challenge and perhaps deserves to win tomorrow.
But that will be no easy feat, considering Djokovic leads their head to head 23-10.
Historically both men had to work to perfect their clay court game. Between the two, the Serb was the first to hone his game on the red dirt, often clashing with Nadal in finals. But it’s Murray now who has recently taken significant strides to master the art of clay.
As the match wears on it will start to favour the Serb who can pretty much outlast anyone (except Stan and vintage Rafa) in a five-setter. Tactically, he will attack Andy’s weak second serve, keep him behind the baseline, and extend rallies.
Andy must keep a high first serve percentage to avoid sending easy balls Novak’s way. He should slice and drop shot to bring Novak to the net and keep him off his rhythm. And most importantly he must get ahead physically (and mentally) first by taking that first set. It’s hard to chase Novak when he’s up on the scoreboard.
Mentally each man will be haunted by the ghosts of matches past. If things turn sour, Murray will want to avoid the meltdown he had in Australia 2015 against this same man. Djokovic will want to forget the numerous times he’s been denied victory in the past years here at Roland Garros finals.
The crowd may factor a little, as the world number one would love to have them behind him. All week he’s tried to charm them by engaging with ball boys, borrowing fan umbrellas and other attempts. But despite his elite status, a pro-Novak crowd is rare. However the Parisians may be miffed that Andy outsted not one, but two of their countrymen enroute to this final. It’s uncertain which man will have the crowds blessing. And though we’d usually give the edge to Djokovic, considering Murray’s current momentum, it’s also uncertain who will be lifting La Coupe des Mousquetaires.
