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The unseeded Magdaelena Rybarikova will be out to continue her incredible run through Wimbledon when she takes on former grand slam champion Garbine Muguruza. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 10pm (AEST).
Muguruza came into Wimbledon as anything but the favourite. Despite grass being a surface that suits her, 2017 hasn’t been kind to the Spaniard, as she has dropped all the way down to 15th on the world rankings after sitting in the top five during 2016.
Things didn’t improve in Paris at the recent French Open, when she was bundled out in the fourth round at the hands of Kristina Mladenovic.
Muguruza’s grass court season got off to an indifferent start. She won matches she was supposed to reasonably easily, then got out of a battle with Coco Vandeweghe in the quarter-finals at Birmingham thanks to her opponent retiring.
A shock loss to Ashleigh Barty followed in the semi-finals, before she lost to Barbora Strycova in the first round at Eastbourne. It was a straight sets demolition job 6-1, 6-0, but she has turned things around well at Wimbledon.
Muguruza, who made her only Wimbledon finals appearance in 2015 has only dropped a single set during the tournament, having to bounce back against Angelique Kerber in the fourth round.
She was back to her best in the quarter-finals though, knocking over Svetlana Kuznetsova in three sets.
Rybarikova has had a stunning run through the grass court season. The world No.87 narrowly qualified for the main draw after dropping just a single match in three tournaments.
She opened with victory in Surbiton, defeating Heather Watson in the final, before being knocked out in the semi-final at Nottingham by the Wimbledon sixth seed Johanna Konta.
The Slovakian then took out the tournament at Ilkey, only dropping two sets for the tournaments entirety and getting past both Madison Brengle and Andrea Petkovic on her way to victory.
At Wimbledon, Rybarikova has used her serve and power game to drop just two sets over the first five matches. It’s been a case of upset after upset, with Karolina Pliskova, Petra Martic and most recently Coco Vandeweghe falling by the wayside.
The 6-3, 6-3 victory over Vandeweghe was particularly impressive.
The pair have faced off four times previously, with the ledger split at 2-2. Rybarikova won their only grass meeting during 2015 on grass at Birmingham, with Rybarikova winning in straight sets.
In their only grand slam meeting, Muguruza won an epic in the first round of the Australian Open to the tune of 4-6, 6-1 14-12.
Don’t be surprised if something similar happens here. Both players have the ability to push their opponent around the court and hold serve with relative ease.
Prediction
This deep in a grand slam, Muguruza holds a huge experience advantage and should win after a grinding third set.
Muguruza in three sets.
Be sure to join The Roar for live scores of this semi-final from 10pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add a comment below.