Three double faults and a couple of unforced errors led to a drop of serve from Serena Williams in the first game of this Wimbledon women's singles final, and you felt – or rather hoped – this might actually be a contest; hey, Garbine Muguruza might have a chance here.
Was never gonna happen was it.
Serena Williams found her mojo midway through the first set, running away with four games in a row to take a one set to love lead, before showing her class in the second set to, eventually, ease to her sixth Wimbledon title, her 21st Grand Slam crown and a "Serena Slam" with a 6-4, 6-4 victory in one hour and 23 minutes.
It really is incredible how easy Serena makes winning these titles look. The American is now the holder of the US Open, Australia Open, French Open and Wimbledon, and if she defends her US Open title in a few weeks' time she will not only have a "Serena Slam" in her kitty but the Calendar Grand Slam as well.
Going by the way she has been playing, it looks a surety really, because there is no player in the circuit right now that can match Serena in those big points, the points that differentiate the champions from the almost-theres.
Muguruza should take heart from, not just her run to the Wimbledon final, but her performance in it as well. It was pretty good.
The Spaniard had her moments in the final – in the early part of the first set when she was up a break, hitting a few big serves and tonking those forehands and backhands, and then in the latter part of the second when she broke Serena twice as the American was serving for the match. But, in the end, Serena was just too strong and too good for the youngster.
Once Serena found her groove, the nerves came for Muguruza, and when you have a player like Serena prowling around the baseline, waiting to pounce on even the slightest of short balls, you go for that little bit more, and with it the margin for error reduces, and so follow the inevitable unforced errors.
The intimidation factor that Serena holds right now in the women's game is near unparalleled. The moment she finds her A-game, her opponents eventually capitulate.
Muguruza capitulated a little in the first set, going from a strong position at 4-2 to losing the set. An early break in the second set and it looked the match would be over in a hurry, especially after Serena broke the 21-year-old, in her first Grand Slam final, again, to love, to take a 5-1 lead.
However, with Serena serving for the Championship, Muguruza refused to lie down and play dead, breaking back to stay alive.
The youngster would then hold her serve and force Serena to serve for the match again, a game – easily the best of the final -- in which Muguruza would earn five break points, before taking one of those to pull it to 5-4.
However, while serving to stay in the championship, Serena and nerves played their part and that was all she wrote as tears poured down Muguruza's face with joy etched on Serena's.
