Serena Williams vs Garbine Muguruza prediction

Serena Williams, currently 1^st on the WTA ranking list is playing against Garbine Muguruza, currently 35^th in the rankings.

Serena Williams is a 17-time Grand Slam winner, and the biggest favorite to clinch the title in Paris, especially after Na Li lost the first round match against the French Kristina Mladenovic.

Serena Williams doesn’t have a tough draw. After Muruguruza, she could face her sister Venus, for the second time in the last five years. They’ve played last year in Charleston and Serena won that match easily, and she has five victories in a row. She leads 14:10 in head to head matches, and should win this match too. In the 4^th round she could play against Sabine Lisicki, and that could be an interesting match. Sabine upset Serena in last year’s Wimbledon, and Serena would like a chance for a rematch. The American previously won their first two encounters.

In the quarterfinals she could face Sharapova or Cibulkova, and perhaps Stosur, who beat her three times, once here, in quarterfinals 2010. She has a better head to head with Sharapova, she beat her 15 times in a row and Cibulkova, who never beat her. Also, in the potential semifinal she could play against Radwanska, who also never beat her, so it seems that Serena is destined for another Grand Slam final.

But first, she will have to dispatch Garbine Muruguza, 21-year-old Spaniard, who is currently 35^th in the rankings.

Muguruza is a solid player, who mostly beats lower ranked tennis players than her, but also fails in making a breakthrough and beating some top 10 player, so it shouldn’t be that dangerous for Serena Williams. However, Muguruza reached 4^th round of this year’s Australian Open, which brought her career high rank of 32, and there she managed to beat the former world number 1, Caroline Wozniacki.

Muguruza is a solid all-round player. She has a better forehand than backhand, but she doesn’t have an ace stroke up her sleeve, so it would be a huge surprise if Serena fails in winning a match against her.

Serena, after an early exit from world number two and a reigning Australian Open champion Na Li (it is interesting that both of this year’s Australian Open champions lost their first match in Paris), has a clear path towards her 18^th Grand Slam title. However, she often lost to lower ranked players in the Slams, so she should be careful, especially against the young player that hopes to make a breakthrough

Head to head

This will be a second match between these two players. In last year’s Australian Open Serena Williams won with ease. The result was 6:2, 6:0.

Prediction

Serena Williams should easily win this match