“You start day after day. Very excited to be in the final but I have one more game left on Saturday. I didn’t think I was losing, but you hope to keep working until your time comes ”, he commented in a serious and cautious tone after his move to the final.
The intense heat, which reached 39 degrees at some points in the crash, did not distract Muguruza from knocking Halep down after saving four set points in the first of the rounds.
Conchita Martínez, the last Spanish to play a final in Melbourne Park (1998), smiled in relief after verifying once again that the aggressiveness and the will to build the point to take a step forward, aspects in which they worked so hard in preseason, worked wonderfully.
Regarding the clash, Muguruza was the first to steal the first serve after breaking 3-3 on the scoreboard.
However, when the first set seemed seen for the sentence, the Romanian held on to the game after consuming a ‘break’ in the last breath that would extend the set to the final tiebreaker.
The order disappeared and the scoreboard was taking shape based on flashes without taking into account the advantage of the service, so the result went from a 3-0 favorable to the Spanish to a 3-4 against them.
Finally, after a considerable load of suspense and up to four set points saved, Muguruza scored the first set after unhinging a Halep who broke her racket after hitting it on the floor of the Rod Laver Arena.
They did not recover their solvency at the service and the games to the rest were more protagonists than those achieved at the service after accumulating three consecutive ‘breaks’ that put the 2-4 on the scoreboard.
This time it was Muguruza who hit the last blow remaining to avoid sending the match to the final set and repeated in Halep’s next serve to certify both the fourth consecutive game and the match.
He will have the opportunity to add a different ‘major’ title to a showcase that already has the Roland Garros edition of 2016 and Wimbledon of 2017 in the final that will be played this Saturday against the American Sofia Kenin.
The balance is negative for the Spanish after having yielded the only clash they played in the last edition of the Beijing tournament when they lost 6-0, 2-6 and 6-2. EFE