Breaking into a first final at a hardcourt Grand Slam would seem a good excuse for a jubilant post-match celebration but a small fist pump and a steely glance at the players box was all Garbine Muguruza allowed herself at the Australian Open on Thursday.
Muguruza continued her sudden and sparkling revival at the year’s first Grand Slam by downing Simona Halep 7-6 (10-8), 7-5 in a semi-final played in scorching heat.
Muguruza will meet the 14th seed, American Sofia Kenin, who ousted World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty, in Saturday’s title match, two and a half years on from the second of the Spaniard’s Grand Slam trophies at Wimbledon in 2017.
Muguruza came to Melbourne with low expectations following a viral illness that nearly scuppered her tournament before it began — but with one match to go, she is now on a mission.
“Well, definitely the mission is to get away from here with a big trophy,” the 26-year-old told reporters.
“But big or small celebration, it’s an incredible achievement. I believe in myself that I have what it takes to play these kind of matches and to be on this stage. You try to just keep it calm.”
She needed plenty of composure to overcome Halep, a fellow-twice Grand Slam winner and former World No. 1, who dumped her out of the 2018 French Open semi-finals.
Muguruza saved two set points in the nerve-jangling tie-break on Thursday and broke the Romanian as she served to level the match at 5-4 in the second set.
The heat remained suffocating as the afternoon wore on yet the Rod Laver Arena roof remained open.
Compared to Halep, who lost her cool in a racket-smashing frenzy after losing the tie-break, Muguruza handled the conditions as well as could be expected.
“Yes, it was very, very hot today and I felt it,” said Halep.“Killed me after the first set ... The sun was strong.”
Like Barty, who failed to convert four set points in her semi-final against Kenin, Halep was left to rue a slew of missed chances. Enraged with herself, the Romanian bashed her racket into the court twice to earn a code violation and returned to her chair fuming.
“I think maybe I could have been a little bit more brave in the points that were important,” Wimbledon champion Halep told reporters.
Bopanna bows out
The Indian challenge ended after Rohan Bopanna and his Ukrainian partner Nadiia Kichenok were knocked out in straight sets in the quarter final of the mixed doubles. The Indo-Ukrainian pair went down 0-6, 2-6 to fifth seed Nikola Mektic and Barbora Krejcikova in a 47-minute encounter.