Garbine Muguruza

Muguruza’s first major impact in the tennis world came in 2014 when she won her maiden WTA title, the Hobart Open. She then reached her second major final at the Brasil Tennis Cup but could not bag the crown. Her performance at Roland Garros that season was exceptional as she reached the quarter-final where she handed Serena Williams one of her worst defeats in her Grand Slam career. Although Muguruza was beaten by Maria Sharapova in the last eight, her performance against Williams was certainly one that instilled a ton of confidence in her. The following year saw her make it through to her first ever Grand Slam final at Wimbledon and she also made it into the WTA top 10 for the first time in her career that season.

2016 was a season that did not start well for the Spaniard, so no one could have been able to predict the storm Muguruza was about tp whip up at that year’s Roland Garros. She defeated the likes of Svetlana Kuznetsova, Shelby Rogers and Sam Stosur.  The Spaniard had to overcome a massive test in the form of Serena Williams in the final and she passed with flying colours. A shocking straight-set victory over the former world no. 1 saw Muguruza win her first ever singles Grand Slam title and that shot her up to second in the WTA rankings at the time.

Muguruza, seeded 14th at the 2017 Wimbledon Championships, defeated Yanina Wickmayer, Sorana Cîrstea, and Ekaterina Alexandrova to go to the fourth round. She next played world No. 1 and last year’s runner-up Angelique Kerber, defeating her in three sets. She then won in straight sets over the seventh-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova and the 87th-ranked Magdalena Rybarikova to reach her second Wimbledon final. She won her second major title there and became the first player to ever defeat both Williams sisters in a major singles final when she defeated the 10th seed Venus Williams in straight sets.

2018 and 2019 are years that the Spaniard would perhaps like to keep at the back of her mind. Muguruza fell out of form and found herself out of the top 30 by the end of the 2019 season. However, things did take a turn for the best in 2020 when she went all the way to the final of the Australian Open. She found her rhythm and consistency the following her completely, establishing herself in the top 10 yet again. Muguruza was the winner of the 2021 WTA Finals where she beat fellow Spaniard Paula Badosa in the semi-finals and Anett Kontaveit in the final. The Spaniard recorded her 300th WTA career win on April 29, 2022 when she beat Ajla Tomljanovic in the Madrid Open.

On October 8, 1993, Garbine Muguruza was born in Caracas, Venezuela, to her Spanish father Jose Antonio Muguruza and Venezuelan mother Scarlet Blanco.

In total, Muguruza has won prize money totaling USD 24 million over her tennis career so far. She came in at number six on Forbes’ ranking of the highest-paid female athletes in 2020. She earned USD 6.6 million in total, USD 4.5 million of which came from her several endorsements. She is thought to be worth USD 12 million.