Serena Williams has 20 Grand Slam titles, four Wimbledon titles and has already won both the Australian Open and the French Open this year. She's definitely the most dominant athlete in the sport at this stage in the game, and arguably the most dominant athlete in any sport today. In other words, it's going to be incredibly tough for her opponent, No. 20 seed Garbine Muguruza, to find an avenue to victory in Saturday's final.
Just listing the comparative statistics between the two is so lopsided it's comical. Williams has 20 Grand Slam titles, 24 Grand Slam final appearances not counting this one, 67 total career titles, a 38-1 record in 2015 and the list goes on and on. Muguruza has one career title to her name.
That said there is one thing that Muguruza can use as a rallying point: she's beaten Williams on the big stage before. The stage wasn't quite as big as a Wimbledon final, but Muguruza did best Williams in the second round of the 2014 French Open, dominating her 6-2, 6-2. They've played two other times, both wins from Williams, but Muguruza did take a set in one of those matches.
In other words, she knows she can beat Williams. She's not lacking for confidence, and only she knows if the pressure will affect her on Saturday but she's certainly been adamant that he's not afraid leading up to the match.
"She knows that I can win against her, that I'm not afraid," she said, via the Associated Press, "I don't think she's really used to this. Serena, she doesn't lose so many matches in the year."
But she does lose matches. Unfortunately for Muguruza, Williams is also as good as it gets when it comes to coming back from early adversity to dominate a match. There's been countless times when Williams looked like she was beatable, only to have her completely shift and not give up a single game for the rest of her match. That's her specialty.
Muguruza will have to have a perfect game. She'll have to dominate the opening set, and then she can't let up for even a second, because Williams will seize any opportunity given to her. The chances of Williams getting her 21st title before Muguruza gets her first are very good, but nothing is definite in tennis.
The women's final will get underway at 9 a.m. ET, and will be broadcast on ESPN. Their coverage will run through the end of Saturday's match. A live stream will be available at WatchESPN. The men's final will take place on Sunday. You can look over the full women's bracket here.