Tag Archives: Samantha Stosur

Caroline Garcia Helps Lead France to Fed Cup Title

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Caroline Garcia is a Fed Cup champion at last…

The 26-year-old part-Spanish player, who played an integral part in France’s appearance at the Fed Cup finals in 2016, and her doubles partner Kristina Mladenovic, prevailed in the doubles decider to claim a 3-2 victory over Australia in Perth.

Caroline Garcia & Kristina Mladenovic

Garcia and Mladenovic, who won the women’s doubles title together at the French Openin 2016, proved too good for world No. 1 singles player Ashleigh Barty and Samantha Stosur, cruising to a 6-4 6-3 victory on Sunday to secure the nation’s third Fed Cup crown and first since 2003.

Mladenovic earlier stunned Barty 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-1) in an epic two-and-a-half hour singles battle at RAC Arena to put France ahead in the best-of-five rubbers final.

Caroline Garcia & Kristina Mladenovic

French No.1 Mladenovic’s phenomenal weekend, which also included a straight-sets drubbing of Ajla Tomljanovic, proved to be the difference between the two nations.

Mladenovic and Garcia were clinical in the deciding rubber.

Australia managed to save two championship points but it was only a matter of time before Mladenovic fittingly served out the match.

It was sweet redemption for Mladenovic and Garcia, who lost the deciding doubles rubber to the Czech Republicin the 2016 Fed Cup final.

“It’s lots of emotion to share this with Caro after three years ago we failed on the last step of the tie,” Mladenovic said.

“Today we just wanted to take this little revenge for ourselves and it’s just not describable how we feel right now.”

Playing for France at the Fed Cup, Garcia was previously awarded a Heart Awardfor her sportsmanship, after leading her country to the 2016 Fed Cup final, France’s first final since 2005.

Garbine Muguruza Defeats Samantha Stosur to Advance to the Fourth Round at the French Open

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Garbine Muguruza has breezed through to the next round at the French Open.

The 24-year-old Spanish-Venezuelan tennis player and former World No. 1 lost her serve just once to Australian Samantha Stosur in a 6-0, 6-2 rout to reach the fourth round at Roland Garros.

Garbine Muguruza

Muguruza, the 2016 French Open champion and three-time semifinalist here, faced no break points in winning the first set in 26 minutes.

Facing three break points in the fourth game of the second set, she served a double fault, allowing Stosur to level at 2-2. But she then rattled off the next four games for the match.

Muguruza next faces 39th-ranked Lesia Tsurenko, who upset 19th-seeded Slovak Magdalena Rybarikova 6-2, 6-4.

Muguruza Beats Serena Williams to Claim the French Open Title

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Garbiñe Muguruza has officially arrived…

The 22-year-old Spanish/Venezuelan tennis player defeated World No. 1 Serena Williams 7-5, 6-4 at the French Open on Saturday to claim her first-ever Grand Slam title.

Garbiñe Muguruza

Muguruza’s win prevented Williams from tying Steffi Graf‘s Open-era record of 22 Grand Slam titles for the third straight Grand Slam event.

In winning her first major, Muguruza used her powerful groundstrokes to keep Williams off-balance and overcame signs of nerves in the form of nine double-faults to pull off the upset win.

Muguruza also managed to deal with Williams’ dangerous serve, breaking three consecutive times from late in the first set to early in the second en route to beating Williams for the second time in three years at Roland Garros. In 2014, she handed Williams the worst loss of her Grand Slam career with a 6-2, 6-2 victory in the second round.

After letting four match points slip away in the penultimate game, Muguruza served out the match at love, punctuated by a high lob that caught the baseline as Williams watched.

Garbiñe Muguruza

The winning shot drew a smile from Williams’ face and she applauded Muguruza, who put her face in her hands and fell on her back in the red clay of Court Philippe Chatrier as her coach Sam Sumyk jumped from his chair and raised both arms in the air.

“She has a bright future, obviously,” said Williams, who at 34 is 12 years older than her Spanish opponent. “She knows how to play on the big stage and … clearly, she knows how to win Grand Slams.”

Muguruza, who lost to Williams in the 2015 final at Wimbledon, became the first Spanish woman to win a Grand Slam title since Arantxa Sanchez Vicario won the last of her three French Open crowns in 1998.

“I can’t explain with words what this day means to me,” Muguruza said after the match. “You work all your life to get here.”

Muguruza became just the fifth different woman to defeat Williams in a Grand Slam final, joining Angelique Kerber, Samantha Stosur, Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams — who beat her sister twice.

This year’s visit to Paris hardly could have started off more inauspiciously for Muguruza: She lost the very first set she played in the tournament, against 38th-ranked Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.

But Muguruza turned things around from there. She won the next 14 sets she played, displaying the deep groundstrokes and take-the-ball-early aggressiveness that flustered Williams.

“I have grown up playing on clay,” Muguruza said during the trophy ceremony, “so for Spain, and for me, this is amazing.”

Muguruza Defeats Samantha Stosur to Reach Her First-Ever French Open Final

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Garbiñe Muguruza is one step away from claiming her first Grand Slam title… 

The 22-year-old Spanish/Venezuelan tennis player annihilated Samantha Stosur 6-2, 6-4 to reach the final at the French Open, her second Grand Slam final in less than a year.

Garbiñe Muguruza 

Muguruza was in outstanding form right from the get-go, racing to a 4-0 lead in the opening set before serving it out inside half an hour.

She broke again at the start of the second set, and despite Stosur breaking back she kept on taking the Australian’s serve apart to wrap up the win.

“I played very well until I led 5-2 in the second set and then she stepped up a gear and I became a bit nervous,” said Muguruza, who is looking to become the first Spanish woman to to lift the trophy at Roland Garros since Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in 1998. “Emotions sometimes can be bad.”

Muguruza was seeded fourth going into the tournament, that seeding based largely on the rankings points she won by making it to her first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon last year.

She next faces Serena Williams, the woman she faced in the women’s final at Wimbledon. And, while it may seem like a daunting task getting past the World No. 1, Muguruza did defeat Williams at the French Open in 2014.

Muguruza Defeats Shelby Rogers to Reach Her First French Open Semifinal

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It’s a special first for Garbiñe Muguruza…

The 22-year-old Spanish/Venezuelan tennis player defeated American Shelby Rogers 7-5, 6-3 in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros to reach her first French Open semifinal.

Garbine Muguruza

To earn a place in her second Grand Slam final, Muguruza will face off against 2010 finalist Samantha Stosur.

Rogers, this year’s Cinderella story at the French, confidently broke Muguruza in the opening game. She quickly consolidated the break at love to open up a 2-0 lead before Muguruza responded with a hold at love of her own to reduce the deficit to a single break. This pattern continued for the majority of the set, with chances for the receiver to break coming few and far between.

But, Muguruza earned herself her first break points of the match in the eighth game but failed to convert as Rogers held firm, eventually going on to hold for a 5-3 lead. With her back against the wall once again, the No. 4 seed produced the goods, holding at love to force the world number 108 to serve for a one-set advantage.

In a crucial ninth game, Rogers was able to come within a point of taking the opening set, but Muguruza refused to back down. After hitting a big backhand winner down set point, Muguruza reeled off another three points in a row to break back in the knick of time.

With the score tied at 5-all, it was clear that Muguruza had found her rhythm. With some of the ball striking that earned her a place in last year’s Wimbledon final, Muguruza promptly held to love, before sneaking away with the opening set moments later, winning it 7-5.

In the second set, Muguruza showed no signs of slowing down; a hold at love promptly followed by a break to 15 putting her a set and 2-0 to the good. Despite Rogers’ best efforts to fight back, Muguruza managed to stay in control to win the second set 6-3.

“I feel great,” the Spaniard said in her post-match press conference. “Previous years, you know, I end the tournament in quarterfinals. This year I really wanted to, you know, go through. I think it’s great.

Muguruza Reaches Her First-Ever Grand Slam Quarterfinal at the French Open

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It’s another first for Garbiñe Muguruza …

The 20-year-old half-Spanish-half-Venezuelan tennis player’s Cinderella run continues at the French Open.

Garbiñe Muguruza

Following her upset victory over World No. 1 Serena Williams in the second round, and her easy win over Slovakia’s Anna Schmiedlova in her next match-up, Muguruza returned to Roland Garros to face French wildcard Pauline Parmentier in the fourth round.

And the rising star in women’s tennis had little difficulty seeing off the challenge from Parmentier, winning 6-4, 6-2 in fading light on the tournament’s center court to advance to the French Open quarterfinals on Monday morning (AEST).

It’s Muguruza’s first-ever appearance in a Grand Slam quarterfinal, a feat she’s accomplished in only her ninth major. She matched her previous best—a fourth round appearance at this year’s Australian Open—at this tournament, before besting it with her big win over Parmentier.

Muruguzu will next meet Maria Sharapova, who overcame Australia’s Samantha Stosur in three sets. The former World No. 1 is considered the favorite to win the tournament after so many upsets in the women’s draw— with the three top seeds – Williams, Li Na and Agnieszka Radwanska – all failing to make the fourth round, the first time that has happened in the Open era.