Ruthless Muguruza wallops Williams at Wimbledon
Venus Williams folded in the second set as Garbine Muguruza completed an incredible turnaround to win her second Major title.
Garbine Muguruza claimed her first Wimbledon title by ruthlessly denying the evergreen Venus Williams a record-breaking victory.
Muguruza was beaten by Serena Williams in her maiden grand slam final at the same venue in 2015, but the Spaniard banished those painful memories by beating the best female player of all-time's older sister 7-5 6-0 on Centre Court this year.
Five-time Wimbledon singles champion Williams spurned two set points in the opener and was unable to recover, failing to become the oldest woman to win a Major in the Open Era at the age of 37.
Muguruza blew the No.10 seed away in the second set to claim her second grand slam title in what was her first final at any level since winning the French Open against Serena Williams last year.
Muguruza, 14 years Venus Williams's junior, revealed she has long been inspired by the American.
"I had the hardest match today against Venus," the 23-year-old said. "She's such an incredible player.
"I grew up watching her play ... sorry."
The apology came as Venus watched on, apparently not amused at the sizeable age gap being pointed out, despite the crowd's audible laughter.
Muguruza added: "I feel incredible to be able to play her here. Of course I'm nervous because I always dreamed about winning it, but I was composed.
"I want to thank my team who are here. This is not only me, this is all team work. Two years ago I lost in the final against Serena and she told me I was going to win."
Prompted to offer a message for coach Sam Sumyk, absent as his wife is due to give birth, Mugurza held aloft the trophy and gleefully declared: "Here it is."
Williams has been without sister Serena at this year's tournament, as the seven-time champion takes a break from the game also to give birth to her first child.
But, when asked if she had a message for Serena after the match, Venus expressed optimism that she could continue to perform at the highest level.
"I miss you. I tried my best to do the same things you do but I think there'll be other opportunities," she said.
"[I've had] a lot of beautiful moments in the last couple of weeks."
Venus has not won a grand slam since her triumph at the All England Club in 2008, losing three Major finals since then.