After nine years, Venus faces a final reckoning with Muguruza

LONDON (Reuters) – Venus Williams will hope to reclaim the Wimbledon crown after a nine-year wait on Saturday against Garbine Muguruza in a final reminiscent of a classic battle of the big hitters. Venus, 37, who is enjoying a barely believable tennis renaissance, last took to Center Court to compete in the singles final in 2009. She lost this match to Serena Williams after defeating her younger sister to lift the aptly named Venus Rosewater Dish the year before. – the latest of her seven Grand Slam titles. Victory in Saturday’s final, which could see the roof of Wimbledon appear with the possibility of rain, will see the evergreen American overtake Serena to become the oldest to win a major title since the sport turned professional in 1968 after finishing second in the Australian Open in In January, Venus also topped the rankings as the top female tour player of 2017. Although on a less conspicuous scale, Muguruza is happy to be back. After reaching a Grand Slam final at Wimbledon for the first time in 2015 and doing even better in 2016 by winning the French Open – playing against Serena twice – the Venezuelan-born 23-year-old’s form dipped late last year. However, since May she has reached the semi-finals on clay in Rome, defeating Venus in the last eight matches in three sets, and also on grass in Birmingham. With both players boasting similar strengths and weaknesses, the elder Williams has been open about picking Serena on how best to neutralize Muguruza’s powerful serve and forehand, even joking this week that she would prefer her younger sister play the match instead of her. On the way to Saturday’s final, in which bookmakers consider the Spaniard to be a slight favorite, both players lost only one set. This means there may be a decision-maker involved, which, as history suggests, favors whoever starts best. Of the Grand Slam tournaments where he won in the first set, Muguruza lost only two of 42 and Williams lost 18 of 250. (Reporting by John Stonestreet; Editing by Sudipto Ganguly)