Muguruza Beats Kerber to Reach Wimbledon Quarterfinals

July 10, 2017 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff

World number one Angelique Kerber will no longer hold that distinction after this week as she fell to former finalist Garbine Muguruza on Monday. Muguruza came back from a set down to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 and book her spot in the final eight.

Muguruza ripped 55 winners to upend Kerber, and going for her shots was her strategy heading into the match.

“When you have somebody that is so, you know, physically strong, so solid, the more you win free points or make it short, it’s better,” said Muguruza. “It’s also part of my game. Like I said before, I don’t like to wait 20 shots. You know, I go for it. Today, I think it was a key to make short points.”

Muguruza moves into a quarterfinal matchup with seventh-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, who dismissed ninth-seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-4.

Venus Williams continues to defy her age, powering into the Wimbledon quarterfinals with a dominating 6-3, 6-2 win over Croatia’s Ana Konjuh.

“I think I’m playing pretty solid,” Venus said of her play thus far in the tournament. “For me it’s about getting through the round. You’re not going to play perfect every round. I would like to play straight sets every round—that would be great. If not, all that matters is you win.

Winning never gets old at any stage in your career, ever, ever.”

The five-time champion needed just one hour and three minutes to defeat the 27th seeded teenager, hitting 24 winners to just 13 unforced errors.

In the quarterfinals, she will take on Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko. The French Open champion continued her Grand Slam success with a 6-3, 7-6(6) win over fourth-seed Elina Svitolina on Monday.

Venus and Ostapenko have never squared off against one another.

“I haven’t seen her play a lot; I didn’t watch any of the French when I was finished with it,” said Venus. “I know she had an amazing moment there. She’s riding that momentum, confidence I’m sure.”

American Coco Vandeweghe continued her run at the All-England Club with a 7-6(4), 6-4 triumph over fifth-seed Caroline Wozniacki.

“Caroline is a tough opponent to play. There were some difficult moments, difficult games. I was up a break in the first set, and you think that’s pretty easy going. But she fought back. Anything can really happen in a tiebreaker.

I think for myself, just sticking to my guns was definitely key.”

Vandeweghe moves on to play Magdalena Rybarikova, who beat Petra Martic 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.

Second-seed and recent French Open finalist Simona Halep ended the comeback run of former world number one Victoria Azarenka with a 7-6(3), 6-2 triumph.

“I knew that it was going to be a tough one. She’s back and she’s playing great,” said Halep. “I think it was pretty good tennis out there. I’m really pleased with the way I finished the first set. It was very close. I can say that I felt more relaxed, and I just stepped in and I hit stronger.”

If Halep wins one more match and reaches the semifinal, she will become the new world number one. That win will have to come against the hometown favorite in sixth-seed Johanna Konta, who held off 21st seed Caroline Garcia 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4 to round out the quarterfinalists.

“I’m not thinking about it because I was in that situation before,” said Halep. “I hope I will not think that match during the match. I just want to go there and to win it.”

If Konta defeats Halep, then Karolina Pliskova, who lost to Rybarikova in the second round, will claim the number one ranking. 


New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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