For a young Garbine Muguruza, the lessons of what it takes to become a Wimbledon champion came easily: take the power of Venus and Serena Williams, add the mentality of Maria Sharapova and combine it all with the tactics and natural talent of Martina Hingis.
"I always like to take little parts of every player and try to do the same things," a beaming Muguruza said. "You just take a few things and make a perfect player."
Easy to explain, harder to implement. And yet it's an approach that's worked superbly for Muguruza, who powered into the final four of The Championships 2015 with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Timea Bacsinszky. At 21, she’s the youngest player left in the women’s draw.
She's also the first Spaniard to progress to the semi-finals of Wimbledon since Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in 1997, Muguruza playing a style of aggressive but free-flowing tennis that will surely have other young players modelling their game on hers now.
Fresh from wins over 2012 Wimbledon semi-finalist Angelique Kerber and former world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, Muguruza was unyielding as she calmly implemented the best of her power hitting to claim her latest victory in an hour and 27 minutes.
As expected, the challenges from Bacsinszky – a semi-finalist at the recent French Open – came early, Muguruza requiring some of her most impressive tennis to stave off two break points in the fifth game of the opening set. That done, she calmly seized the first break point of her own to claim the set.
Never was the Spaniard more confidently in control than in the final stages of the second set. Refusing to panic after she dropped serve in the opening game – Muguruza recovered with a break back in the very next game – the backhand that's increasingly a trademark helped the 21-year-old strike the most decisive blows.
Securing her third and most important break of serve with a superbly placed backhand to secure a 7-5, 5-3 lead, Muguruza sealed victory with a 17th winner on her second match point.
“I'm very happy to be in semi-finals because I lost two times quarter-finals,” said Mugurza, referencing consecutive final eight appearances at the French Open – an achievement that had many observers believing that clay would be the most likely surface for her to make a Grand Slam breakthrough.
“Yeah, I'm surprised that my first semi-final is on grass,” the Spaniard agreed. “But I think I'm playing really good. I think the surface helps me.”
Agnieszka Radwanska, the 2012 runner-up and Muguruza’s semi-final opponent, would be right to be nervous when they meet in the sem-ifinal. Still several months off her 22nd birthday, the world No.20 Spaniard already has four wins over top five opponents – two against Simona Halep and one over Serena Williams in the second round of the 2014 French Open that handed the world No.1 her most devastating loss at a Grand Slam.
Muguruza is well aware that she’ll need to rediscover that magical form to counteract such a proven grass-court performer in Radwanska. At the same time, she’s simply delighted with every opportunity that’s presenting itself in only her third Main Draw campaign at Wimbledon.
“I wake up this morning thinking, I have to play,” she said of her excitement to play another match. “Today I woke up, I want to play the match. I feel good … I was having fun.”
A Centre Court outing will provide the naturally joyful Muguruza with even more to smile about, the Spaniard happily recalling her first assignment on the most famous venue in tennis.
“Centre Court is special,” she said. “It's weird. It's like silence. There are no brands. It's different, but it's good.”
History, however, is still far from Muguruza’s mind. Claiming her only career title on the hard courts of Hobart in Australia, she’s concentrating simply on her next assignment. “I don't think it's going to help me right now to have these things on my mind,” she said. “I just want to get ready for my next match, play like today or this week.”
Asked what it might be like to lift the trophy, Muguruza couldn’t reply. “I don’t think about the trophy!” she laughed.
Still, she might want to start at least entertaining the concept. Having wisely constructed her game on former champions, Muguruza is piecing together a very winning formula indeed.