Garbine Muguruza overcame a poor start to the match and season to beat an ailing Serena Williams. She lead 6-3 1-0 before Williams retired, citing thigh issues and said she was struggling to breathe.
First set
Williams got off to a blistering start, effortlessly hitting past Muguruza and raced to a 3-0 lead. However, it was peculiar to see her going to her seat after the first game, suggesting that something may be wrong. The American almost secured a second break, but Muguruza stuck in to hang on to her serve. The Spaniard then struck back straight away and broke Williams to level the match up.
Serena Williams started to look troubled as she was not able to move well and took an uncharacteristically long amount of time between points. Her body language looked completely wrong as Muguruza broke her serve once again. Williams asked for the physio as she hit a 78 mph serve (possibly the slowest in her career) and lost her serve once again, allowing Muguruza to win 6-3. Things became worse, as Williams opted to not run down some easy balls. Enough was enough and she finally called time on the match.
It was a tough sight to see – Serena Williams has always been a fighter and has never given up before. Her last mid-match retirement came all the way back in 2014. However, it was clear from the very start of the match that something was wrong. It’s a massive shame as it looked like it would be a quality match between two rivals.
The official reason given for the withdrawal was a viral illness. We will continue to update this post as more information becomes available.
Up next for Muguruza
The Spaniard will still have to dig deep in the next round, as she will face a tricky opponent. She will face the winner of Bertens vs Konta, who both have a similar styles to each other and pose a similar threat. However, Muguruza played extremely well in this match and she will have a lot of confidence in the next round.
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