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THIS DAY IN HISTORY: SERENA BECOMES OLDEST WIMBLEDON CHAMPION

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On this date, 11 July 2015, Serena Williams at 33 years beat Spain’s Garbiñe Muguruza 6-4, 6-4 to win the Wimbledon Women’s Tennis to become the oldest winner in Open era.

Serena withstood early and late surges from Garbine Muguruza to capture the women’s title in straight sets as the 6-4, 6-4 triumph gives her 21 career Grand Slam singles titles, three behind Margaret Court for the most in history.

Williams however therefore held all four major titles at once—the Serena Slam—and earned a chance to go for the calendar Grand Slam at the U.S. Open. It’s one of the few accomplishments she’s yet to pull off in her illustrious career.

After her defeat of the Spanish youngster, Serena turned to the teary lady on the Centre Court and said: “Don’t be sad. You’ll be holding this trophy very, very soon; believe me.” And it came to pass.

Two years later, there was Muguruza with her arms wrapped around the Venus Rosewater Dish, the trophy reserved for the women’s champion, and with her dimples on display as she beamed with good reason after her 7-5, 6-0 victory over Serena’s sister, Venus Williams.

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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