In a tennis career akin to a comet, Garbiñe Muguruza built a style all her own

Based on several comments she made in the fall of 2023, it’s no surprise that two-time Grand Slam champion and former world No. 1 Garbine Muguruza has announced her retirement from tennis.

“As of today, I have no intention to return to competition\],” [Muguruza said that October in *Women's Health* magazine. “I am not playing or training, I am living my life.” At that stage, Muguruza was in the middle of a long exile from the Hologic WTA Tour. She’d last competed in January and became engaged to Arthur Borges in May.

According to a story that appeared today in *The Athletic*, the 30-year-old Muguruza’s official announcement on Saturday, April 20 at a press conference in Madrid.

“I feel I am ready to retire, to open this new chapter in my life,” Muguruza was quoted in the piece. “A new era, a new life.”

Consider Muguruza’s career arc akin to a comet: It flashed across the sky brilliantly, yet only for a relatively short amount of time. Muguruza’s burst of tennis excellence began with a run to the finals of Wimbledon in 2015, accelerated when she won the title at Roland Garros in 2016, and further shone brilliantly with a victory at Wimbledon in 2017.  She reached the No. 1 spot on Sept. 11, 2017, holding it for four weeks. From then on, Muguruza advanced once more to a major final, that effort coming at the 2020 Australian Open. All told, she won 10 WTA singles titles. Besides the two majors, Muguruza’s most notable triumph came when she won the WTA Finals in 2021.

At her best, Muguruza commanded the court with exceptionally forceful groundstrokes, striking the ball flat and crisply off both sides. An early signal of what could be came at Roland Garros in 2014, when Muguruza took just 62 minutes to beat defending champion Serena Williams in a second round match, 6-2, 6-2. Two years later, Williams was once again the tournament’s titleholder and made her way to the final. Eleven months earlier, Muguruza had reached the Wimbledon final and fought well before losing to Williams, 6-4, 6-4. Still, at Roland Garros less than 12 months later, she was unquestionably a heavy underdog.

But on this day, little fazed her, Muguruza winning, 7-5, 6-4.

“This is the tournament in Spain, being on clay, Rafa is the champion and to win here is the best,” said Muguruza. “I can’t explain with words what this day means to me. You work all your life to get here. I grew up on clay so for Spain and for me this is just amazing.”

Perhaps she felt even more patriotic pride that year in Paris because Nadal had been forced to withdraw earlier in the tournament due to a wrist injury.

Just over a year later, Muguruza played superbly at Wimbledon. Her quest to win tennis’ most prestigious tournament was aided by the presence and counsel of another Spanish great, Hall of Famer and 1994 Wimbledon singles champion, Conchita Martinez; the two later commenced a full-time collaboration that lasted from November of that year until April of 2023. In the round of 16, Muguruza took out first-seeded Angelique Kerber, 6-4 in the third. From there, she won six straight sets. In the finals versus Venus Williams, Muguruza saved two set points in the first set and then turned the match around, winning it 7-5, 6-0.

“I always come very motivated to the Grand Slams,” Muguruza said following the match. “I don't know. Since I lost the final here, I wanted to change that. I came thinking, ‘I'm prepared, I feel good.’ During the tournament and the matches, I was feeling better and better. Every match, I was increasing my level.”

Muguruza was born in Caracas, Venezuela to a Venezuelan mother, Scarlet Blanco, and a Spanish father, Jose Antonio Muguruza. She began playing tennis at age three, eager to keep pace with her older brothers, Asier and Igor.

“I was always following my brothers,” she said. “If my brothers hadn’t played, I never would have picked up a racquet.”

At age 6, she moved to Spain to train in Barcelona at the Bruguera Tennis Academy. In her youth, Muguruza greatly admired Martina Hingis. But in time, she built a playing style all her own.

As Muguruza once said, “I go for my shots with no regrets, even if I play to the fence.”

To the joy of many tennis fans, those moments when she connected were superb.