Mid-Season Roundup: Garbine Going Up?

Mid-Season Roundup

Yes folks, it really is over for another year! The summer festivities we know as Wimbledon reached completion yesterday and with this the tennis season reached its mid-point…..roughly. That’s the perfect excuse to take stock of the stories the two week fiesta brought us and discuss the answers and questions it gave the tennis world. So, in the next few days to wave off the grass courts I will be summarising what I thinks have been most interesting plots and I might even risk a few predictions along the way…

As always, Wimbledon has raised as many questions as answers!

Garbine Going Up?

So we all know that Garbine Muguruza lifted the Wimbledon ladies singles trophy for the first time (and if you don’t then I’m surprised you’re reading this), but it wasn’t the result that most expected. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a shock victory! Especially as most pundits agreed that in the absence of Serena Williams there were around 15 different women that were in with a real chance. But still, Karolina Pliskova was the favourite of many (including me) and there was more of a genuine buzz around home favourite Johanna Konta. And it’s nothing against Garbine, it’s just that her form in the past 12 months did little to indicate this triumph. She had been somewhat all over the place. But hindsight is a great thing and with it we can see that we shouldn’t be surprised at all. 12 months ago Muguruza won her maiden grand slam title at the French Open by defeating Serena Williams. She did so with a display of great physical and emotional strength that had everyone impressed. So when she tried to follow it up it’s no wonder that she had some difficulties. Expectation (including the pressure she must have also put on herself) was weighing on her and it showed. When she failed to defend her FO title in emotional fashion some may have lost faith. But we can now see that this loss was a liberating experience for her! It seemed to bring a years’ worth of tension to a head and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

If Muguruza had not just won Wimbledon it wouldn’t have spelled disaster: at age 23 she has time on her side anyway. However, just over a year between your first and second grand slam titles is pretty good going. A steady rate which she can build upon. But it’s the significance of WIMBLEDON.

Now I’m not just being biased because I am a Brit…..but Wimbledon is thought by many to be the most prestigious of the slams. Winning it has acted as the career catalyst for many a player and several champions herald how it was the victory that changed their life. Wimbledon is truly global and that is just what Garbine is about to become as a result of her win: Garbine goes global!

Had she not already won a grand slam then this could be very, very overwhelming. But luckily she now has more experience to deal effectively with the grand slam aftermath than she did this time last year. I think this will serve her well. She has also already attempted a grand slam defense, all be it unsuccessfully, which will be of some comfort to her this time next year.

I the mean time though, Garbine can carry herself with authority and pride because she has achieved what millions can only dream of. Not only this, but she has done so on the surface that is debatably most unnatural to her. If she can do this then she can surely do almost anything? That is the attitude that her Wimbledon win should give her for the rest of this season and beyond.

With Serena out of the way for the time being and the rest of the women’s field playing fairly inconsistently, Muguruza could be about to emerge as one of the strongest contenders in the game and she doesn’t even have to deal with the burden of the world number one ranking right now. When Serena Williams does come back she might just find that the tennis landscape looks scarily different because I predict that in the next 12 months Garbine is going up!!!!

More post Wimble-fun tomorrow …