It took one hour and four minutes to finish Roland Garros 2014 with Serena Williams and become the sensation. Two years later, the Venezuelan-born Spanish Garbiñe Muguruza has established itself as one of the great stars of the WTA.
I was 20, came to Paris as a 35th player in the world and was a volcano on the track and off. Extroverted and smiling, his meetings with journalists were natural and away from the clichés that cling figures.
Today has learned to haggle. What do you think of the situation in Venezuela ?, asked in English on Sunday: "I can not read much, I'm focused on my tennis."
In 2014 he ended quarter-final against Maria Sharapova in her first appearance in the Philippe Chatrier. Two years later, three of his four matches have been scheduled on the big stage, acquired unbeatable sample weight.
- 'Bajada after high' -
In two years his life has been turned upside down. He has climbed 21 places in the list, changed coaches and has ceased to reside in Barcelona, where he grew up as an athlete since moving to the six years since Venezuela to play tennis following the path of his older brothers.
"I'm living in Geneva for a short time, training there, my family has accompanied me. It's a good place to train," he admitted when asked during the current Roland Garros.
Its transformation is evident as a tennis player. It has gone from someone more than enough talent, capable of the best and the worst, to achieve the desired consistency for a player, what binds its ability to perform on all surfaces.
He explained Sunday at a news conference: "Beyond the concrete bumps, my biggest improvement is 'Garbiñe in tennis', in tough games I see myself more prepared than when I was young".
The technical spin was consummated in August when he dispensed with the Basque Alejo Mancisidor, the man who had modeled his tennis for five years, and joined the French Sam Sumyk, a renowned coach who led the number 1 Victoria Azarenka.
Then he had initiated the most successful phase of his short career. After surprising at Wimbledon and reached the final against Serena Williams, which left a good taste, it became the player of the moment. He won the tournament in Beijing and was semifinalist in his first Masters.
The streak did not continue in the first part of the season: "After a rush always comes a fall, the beginning of the season was difficult, after all that crazy end of the year, I had to start from scratch."
- With Nadal in Rio 2016 -
It stalled and shackled a streak in which it was eliminated in the early rounds, with 19 wins and 9 losses, falling in the third Australia Open.
"Tell me something I do not know", she released him before the cameras to his coach in February in Doha, in the midst of defeat, after Dubai said it was not ready to compete. It had bottomed out.
"They had to settle is four world. Often the head will not let you play quietly, when all that is new," said the Spanish captain of Davis Cup and Federation Cup Conchita Martinez, very close to the player.
Muguruza now seems to have regained calm. He faces his third quarter-final of Roland Garros, where he is favorite to the American Shelby Rogers (108th WTA).
On the horizon Rio Games, which plans to form a spectacular pair in the mixed doubles with Rafael Nadal.