Garbiñe Muguruza Blanco (; born 8 October 1993) is a Venezuelan-born Spanish former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), and world No. 10 in doubles. Muguruza won ten WTA Tour-level singles titles, including two majors at the 2016 French Open and the 2017 Wimbledon Championships, as well as the 2021 WTA Finals. She also finished runner-up at the 2015 Wimbledon Championships and the 2020 Australian Open.
With powerful groundstrokes and an aggressive style of play, Muguruza came to prominence at the 2012 Miami Open by reaching the fourth round defeating two top ten players. In 2015, Muguruza reached her first major final at Wimbledon, where she lost to Serena Williams. She then won her first Premier-level crown at the 2015 China Open, and qualified for her first WTA Finals in singles, losing to Agnieszka Radwańska in the semifinals. Muguruza then enjoyed the greatest achievements of her career in the following six years, winning the 2016 French Open and the 2017 Wimbledon Championships (defeating Serena and Venus Williams in the finals, respectively), reaching the world No. 1 singles ranking, reaching the 2020 Australian Open final, and winning the 2021 WTA Finals. Muguruza is the only person to beat both Williams sisters in a grand slam final. After playing her last professional singles match in January 2023, Muguruza formally retired from the sport in April 2024 at the age of 30.
Muguruza was also successful in doubles, winning five titles, finishing runner-up at the 2015 WTA Finals and reaching the 2014 French Open semifinals, always partnering her compatriot Carla Suárez Navarro.
Early life Garbiñe Muguruza was born in Caracas, Venezuela, on 8 October 1993 to her Venezuelan mother, Scarlet Blanco, and her Basque father José Antonio Muguruza, who hails from Azkoitia in Gipuzkoa, Basque Country. She has two elder brothers named Asier and Igor, also ex-professional tennis players, and has dual Spanish-Venezuelan citizenship. Muguruza began playing tennis at the age of three at the tennis courts of Mampote, in Guarenas outside Caracas, and already showed great talent and skill.
After moving to Spain with her family when she was six years old, looking for better prospects in her tennis development, Muguruza began training at the Bruguera Tennis Academy in Barcelona with her brothers, all dreaming of becoming professional tennis players.
Tennis career 2012-13: Early pro career After turning professional on 2 March 2012, Muguruza was given a wild card for her first WTA Tour main-draw appearance at the Miami Open. There, she upset former world No. 2 Vera Zvonareva, and former world No. 10, Flavia Pennetta, before falling in the round of 16 to the eventual champion, Agnieszka Radwańska, in straight sets.
At the US Open, she qualified for the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time after a number of players withdrew; she lost in three sets to tenth seed Sara Errani in the first round.
At the Australian Open, Muguruza made it into the main draw, after several players withdrew; she lost to Serena Williams in straight sets in the second round.
At Indian Wells, she qualified for the main draw and then made her way to the last 16, where she fell to eventual semifinalist Angelique Kerber. She was then awarded a main-draw wild card into the Miami Open once more where she matched last year's result, recording wins over Kateřina Siniaková, 23rd seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki en route to the round of 16 where she lost to fifth seed Li Na.
After Wimbledon, Muguruza underwent a right ankle surgery and missed the rest of the season. She continued to train by hitting groundstrokes sitting down. She ended that year as the world No. 63 in singles and No. 153 in doubles.
2014: First WTA Tour title, steady results & rise in doubles Muguruza began the 2014 season with a quarterfinal appearance at the Auckland Open, where she lost to former world No. 1 and eventual runner-up, Venus Williams. The following week, Muguruza qualified and eventually won her first WTA singles title at the Hobart International by defeating Klára Zakopalová in the final in straight sets.Garbine Muguruza defeats Klara Zakopalova to win Hobart International, ABC Grandstand Sport, 11 January 2014
At the Australian Open, Muguruza recovered from a set down to defeat tenth seed Caroline Wozniacki in three sets to reach the fourth round for the first time where she lost in straight sets to the fifth seed, Agnieszka Radwańska. She and Arantxa Parra Santonja also reached the second round of the doubles event; they lost in straight sets to the eighth seeds, Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears.
After a three-set defeat to Kimiko Date-Krumm in the first round of the Thailand Open, Muguruza reached her second singles final of the year at the Brasil Tennis Cup, where she lost in three sets to Klára Zakopalová despite having led by a set and 5–2. Muguruza then lost in the second round at Indian Wells and Miami, after receiving opening-round byes, but did reach the quarterfinals of the latter event in doubles where she and her partner, Carla Suárez Navarro lost in three sets to the 8th seeds, Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears.
Muguruza recovered from her first-round defeat at the Monterrey Open by reaching the semifinals of the Marrakech Grand Prix where she lost to the eventual champion, María Teresa Torró Flor in straight sets. However, she and Romina Oprandi managed to win the doubles event by defeating Katarzyna Piter and Maryna Zanevska in the final in three sets. At the Madrid Open, Muguruza lost in the second round to former US Open champion, Samantha Stosur but reached the final of the doubles event with Carla Suárez Navarro where they lost in straight sets to the second seeded Italians, Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci.
After a second-round defeat to former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone at the Italian Open, Muguruza advanced to her first major quarterfinal at the French Open, having handed the world No. 1 and defending champion, Serena Williams, her worst defeat in a major tournament, losing only four games in the second round, before losing to the eventual champion, Maria Sharapova, in three sets. Muguruza also reached the semifinals of the doubles event with Suárez Navarro, where the pair lost in three sets to the top seeds and eventual champions, Peng Shuai and Hsieh Su-wei. As a result of her strong performances at the event, Muguruza achieved career-high singles and doubles rankings of world No. 27 and No. 36, respectively.
Muguruza began her grass-court season at the Rosmalen Championships where she reached the quarterfinals before losing to American qualifier CoCo Vandeweghe in straight sets, after leading 5–2 in the opening set. At the Wimbledon Championships, Muguruza was seeded 27th but was upset by Vandeweghe in the first round, in three sets. Seeded 16th in the doubles event with Suárez Navarro, Muguruza and her partner defeated Ajla Tomljanović and Christina McHale, and Monica Niculescu and Klára Koukalová to reach the third round where they lost in straight sets to Andrea Petkovic and Magdaléna Rybáriková.
Muguruza began the North American hardcourt season at the Stanford Classic. She defeated sixth seed and defending champion, Dominika Cibulková, in three sets and unseeded Daniela Hantuchová to reach the quarterfinals where she lost in straight sets to the third seed Angelique Kerber. Seeded third in the doubles event with Suárez Navarro, the pair defeated Eva Hrdinová and Andreja Klepač, Caroline Garcia and Zhang Shuai and the second seeds, Anastasia Rodionova and Alla Kudryavtseva, to reach the final where they defeated Paula Kania and Kateřina Siniaková in three sets to win the title. At the following week's Canadian Open, Muguruza overcame Canadian qualifier Stéphanie Dubois in the first round before falling in three sets to fourth seed Maria Sharapova. In the doubles event, Muguruza and Suárez Navarro progressed to the second round where they lost to the second seeds, Hsieh Su-wei and Peng Shuai. At the Cincinnati Open, Muguruza lost in the first round to German qualifier Annika Beck but reached the quarterfinals in doubles where she and Suárez Navarro lost to Kimiko Date-Krumm and Andrea Hlaváčková, in straight sets. At the Connecticut Open, Muguruza upset seventh seed Sara Errani before defeating qualifier Peng Shuai to reach the quarterfinals where she lost in three sets to unseeded Camila Giorgi. She and Suárez Navarro also lost to Marina Erakovic and Arantxa Parra Santonja in the first round of the doubles event. Muguruza's next event was the US Open, where she competed as the 25th seed. However, she was upset by resurgent qualifier, Mirjana Lučić-Baroni in the first round in straight sets. She and Suarez Navarro also reached the third round of the doubles event, defeating Alizé Cornet and Kirsten Flipkens and Marina Erakovic and Arantxa Parra Santonja en route before losing to the unseeded Williams sisters.
Muguruza began the Asian swing by competing at the Pan Pacific Open. She defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, fourth seed Jelena Janković and Casey Dellacqua en route to the semifinals where she fell in three sets to the second seed and eventual runner-up, Caroline Wozniacki. Muguruza also reached the final of the doubles event with Suárez Navarro, defeating Pavlyuchenkova and Lucie Šafářová, Jarmila Gajdošová and Arina Rodionova and the second seeds, Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears en route before losing to the top seeds, Cara Black and Sania Mirza in straight sets. Muguruza next competed at the inaugural edition of the Wuhan Open, where she reached the third round of the singles, defeating María Teresa Torró Flor and world No. 2, Simona Halep, en route and the second round of the doubles with Suárez Navarro after defeating Torró Flor and Sílvia Soler Espinosa in the first round but was ultimately forced to withdraw from the event due to gastritis. At the following week's China Open, Muguruza suffered a three-set first-round loss to Ekaterina Makarova but reached the quarterfinals of the doubles event with Suárez Navarro.
Muguruza's final event of the year was the season ending Tournament of Champions in Sofia, Bulgaria. Despite going undefeated in the round-robin stage with wins over top seed, Ekaterina Makarova, third seed Flavia Pennetta and sixth seed Alizé Cornet Muguruza fell to the eventual champion, Andrea Petkovic, in the semifinals in straight sets. She finished the year at career-high rankings of world No. 21 in singles and No. 16 in doubles.
2015: Major final & top 10 in doubles, WTA Finals debut
Muguruza's first event of the year was to be the Brisbane International but she was forced to withdraw from the event due to an ankle injury. The following week, Muguruza chose not to defend her title at the Hobart International and competed at the Sydney International instead, where she reached the quarterfinals, defeating Agnieszka Radwańska for the first time in her career en route. At the Australian Open, she progressed to the fourth round for the second consecutive year with wins over Marina Erakovic, Daniela Hantuchová and Timea Bacsinszky before falling to the eventual champion, Serena Williams, in three sets.