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PARIS, France – After one hour and 43 minutes of pounding the cover off every Babolat tennis ball that came her way, leave it to Garbiñe Muguruza to cap off her stunning performance in Paris with the most unexpected of shots: a topspin lob winner.

“Serena was in front of the ball so I didn’t know if it was in or out,” Muguruza said. “I looked at the chair umpire and chair umpire doesn’t want to say anything. Line judge doesn’t want to say anything.

“I was like, Did I win Roland Garros? What happened?”

Muguruza herself had to wait until she heard the “Game, Set, Match, Mademoiselle Muguruza” call from the chair umpire to realize what just happened. Serena Williams looked in disbelief as the ball hit the baseline. And then the 21 major champion, who had seen her quest for a record-tying 22 majors thwarted by a confident, gutsy young upstart, did what everyone else in the stadium leapt to their feet to do.

She clapped. Well done. Too good.

That single shot from the eventual champion, and that single gesture from the game’s Great Champion, summed up what transpired on another cold, grey day in Paris, as No.4 seed Muguruza barreled her way to a major breakthrough, beating top-seeded Serena, 7-5, 6-4 to win Roland Garros. Muguruza became the first Spanish woman to win a major since Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in 1998 and, with her title run, she’ll be the first Spaniard since Sánchez Vicario to be ranked No.2 in the world come Monday.

“For Spanish people, this is the tournament,” Muguruza said. “When you’re a kid and you practice on clay you always [say], ‘Oh, I wish I could win Roland Garros.’ Today is a great day.”

The win capped off a meteoric rise, one that seemed to start right here in Paris two years ago, when a then 20-year-old Muguruza, ranked No.35 and unseeded, ran roughshod over Serena to stun the American with a 6-2, 6-2 win in the second round. That win, Serena’s most lopsided exit from a Slam, would foreshadow things to come. Muguruza had the game to overpower Serena. Few women in the game can say that.

“I just have a very aggressive game,” Muguruza said. “I go for my shots with no regrets, even if I play to the fence.”

Game. Set. Match MUGURUZA! Say hello to our newest #RolandGarros champion. ? https://t.co/X8PfeZ7S8V

— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) June 4, 2016

A little over a year after that French Open win, Muguruza found herself in her first major final at Wimbledon last summer. Across the net was, once again, Serena. The two have now played five times, with all their matches coming at the Slams. Serena prevailed, 6-4, 6-4 to win her 21st major title and Muguruza was clearly second best that day. Her nerves let her down but her game did not. Shot for shot she could handle the World No.1. But what the Spaniard lacked was experience and the mental fortitude to just get out of her own way and let her game flow.

Enter Sam Sumyk. The two paired up last fall and the results were immediate. She won her biggest title at the China Open and became the second woman ever to make the semifinals of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global in her tournament debut. The only other woman to do that just happened to be the only other woman born in the 1990s to win a Slam, Petra Kvitova. Well, the only woman until Muguruza joined her today.

The big emphasis for Team Muguruza-Sumyk: Control. Control your emotions by controlling only what you can control. Consider everything else – your opponent, the scoreline, the circumstances – nonsense. Let it fall away. Play the point. It’s that simple.

“I have been saying during the whole week to be less emotional,” Muguruza said. “To believe more that I’m here because I deserve my place here. I earned it. I played well. I earned to be here in the final.”

Pull up an old tape of Muguruza from last year and you’ll see a woman who wore her emotions all over her body. The frustration was evident, the anger after a run of bad points audible. Watch her now and there is very little of that. She still rages underneath the surface, but the effort to keep it in control is plain to see.

“You just have to find a way to think of what I have to do, what is under my control,” Muguruza said. “How am I going to play this next point? Ok, this is how I’m going to play. Don’t think that it’s 4-3, I have a break point, this is a final of a Grand Slam. All this kind of stuff is just going to make you play worse. It’s not going to help you to concentrate on what you really want to do. That’s a little bit how I try and control it even though sometimes your arm is shaking because you’re nervous.”

In Saturday’s final, the months of working on her composure paid off. She never panicked in the fourth game of the first set, when Serena made a charge and earned two break points. Muguruza saved one with an ace. After sneaking out the hold in a long four-deuce game, she broke in the next game when Serena fired a double-fault.

Two games later, Serena would get that break back to get on serve. Again, Muguruza stood tall. She stuck to her game plan, played point by point, and eventually broke to take the first set 7-5. In the second set, with Serena serving at 3-5, Muguruza saw four Championship Points come and go. If there was a time for her to wobble it would be the next game, as she served for the title.

No muss, no fuss. She served it out at love, wiping out any hope of another legendary Serena comeback.

“Every match I played until I reached the final I was a little bit improving,” Muguruza said. Indeed, since losing the first set of her tournament to Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, Muguruza had not dropped a set en route to the final and spent less time on court than Serena. “Today was just that challenge. You got to face the best player in the final. You know you’ve got to perform well. Your chances of winning playing bad are very low.

“I knew, ‘Come on, Garbiñe. This is your chance again. Go for it. Just go for it. And breathe.'”

Serena gave Muguruza room to breathe. There were question marks surrounding Serena’s form and fitness heading into the final. Her tight quarterfinal wins over Yulia Putintseva and Kiki Bertens did not inspire much confidence. And yet, the American came out firing on Saturday. She moved and played above expectation given her two previous efforts, but Muguruza played the big points better.

Serena finished with seven aces to four double-faults, hitting 23 winners to 22 unforced errors. But she was just two for eight on break points. Muguruza hit four aces to nine double-faults, hitting 18 winners to 25 unforced errors, and going four for 10 on break points.

“She won the first set by one point,” Serena said afterwards. Muguruza won 42 points in the first set to Serena’s 41. “I mean, that just goes to show you really have to play the big points well, and I think she played the big points really well.”

In the end it was Serena’s serve, her most precious weapon, that let her down. She served at 61% in the first set and that dropped to 53% in the second, finishing at 49% for the match, her lowest of the tournament. Her success rate on second serves was also her worst of her tournament, winning just 43%. All this while serving as hard as she had all tournament, topping out at 121.8 mph and averaging at 108.1 mph. In all, Muguruza broke Serena four times, earning 10 break points in the match.

Muguruza became just the second woman to ever beat Serena in a clay court final (Henin) and just the third woman to ever to beat Serena twice at Roland Garros (Henin, Capriati).

“I think I’m ambitious,” Muguruza said. “I think I have a strong character and I like competition. I like to compete. I like to play against the best players. This is a source of motivation for me.

“I’m very happy, because today I proved to myself that I can play really well, that I can manage my stress and win against one of the best players in the world.”

For the third consecutive major a first-time winner has broken through, twice at the expense of Serena. At the US Open it Flavia Pennetta. At the Australian Open it was Angelique Kerber. Muguruza admitted she thought about Kerber’s win on Friday night.

“When you see people that are winning and there’s new faces, [it] makes you think like, I can be one of those faces. I can be the one who — Hey, if Kerber can I can, or whoever is there.”

Reflecting on her last two losses in major finals this year, Serena dismissed any implication that she’s succumbed to the pressure of chasing No. 22. “I think in Australia, Kerber made 16 errors in three sets, you know, so what do you do in that situation? Today Garbiñe played unbelievable. The only thing I can do is just keep trying.”

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

The lush grass in ‘s-Hertogenbosch proved to be fertile ground once again for CoCo Vandeweghe. The 24-year-old American lifted the trophy at the Ricoh Open for the second time in three years after beating Kristina Mladenovic 7-5, 7-5 in the final on Sunday. Both of Vandeweghe’s career titles have come in Den Bosch, winning her first as a qualifier in 2014.

It was a frustrating clay season for Vandeweghe, where she went 1-3 and missed a big opportunity to challenge for a spot on the United States Olympic Team. Candid as always, the California native admitted she struggled with her motivation in Den Bosch — “I was just honestly a crabby person this week” –but she was able to work her through the draw without losing a set. The title moves Vandeweghe up to No.32, right on the bubble of being seeded at Wimbledon, where she was a quarterfinalist last year.

WTA Insider caught up with Vandeweghe after getting a much-needed title on Sunday.

WTA Insider: Congratulations. How does it feel to once again win the title at the Ricoh Open?

Vandeweghe: It’s a little bit different than your first title. Your first title is all exciting. It’s something you dreamed about always doing. It’s funny, coming into this tournament I was pretty much on a cool even platform the whole time. A common word that’s been thrown around wasI kept my composure together very well through the whole week. That’s not always easy to do especially coming from clay to grass, so it was a hard change.

WTA Insider: Did you go home after the French Open?

Vandeweghe: No, I actually went home after Rome, so just before the French Open, because I wanted to play all of the grass and honestly I was having a really difficult clay season. I had some really tough first round matches, one against Safarova, another one against Venus. I had 10 days on my hands before the French Open and I was like what am I going to do with 10 days in Europe? I’m going to go home. So I went back to California and came two days before the French and played. I was actually on the same flight as Lindsay Davenport and Justin Gimelstob, so I was coming in with the commentators.

WTA Insider: So you go to the French Open, obviously a tough loss second round loss there to Irina-Camelia Begu. What was your mindset going from clay to grass?

Vandeweghe: The clay was actually really disappointing. It was the last chance to make points for Olympics. I knew going in it was going to be my most difficult surface from any other surfaces that I play on. I was trying to do my best.

I had a really tough second round that could have gone either way. I honestly didn’t feel like I could lose it when I was playing, and when it happened and I lost it was like shock. I couldn’t put it into words. It was such a heart-breaking loss. I was really emotionally drained and physically too.

Luckily the next day I had doubles with Christina McHale and we played a match so I didn’t have time to wallow. So I got a win under my belt and then also had mixed doubles. So I had a lot more matches to play and compete at, which I think was beneficial for me mentally. To be there, still competing and figuring things out, getting my feet underneath me and my tennis game. Matches are always beneficial for anyone. When you’re playing a bunch of matches you’re going to feel more comfortable in your own skin on the court.

But the transition from clay to grass, I only had a day of practice out here before I played my match. The thing I focus on is definitely trying to make my swings as compact as possible, that’s first and foremost. Also getting my feet underneath me. I definitely worked through my fitness through the tournament, working on my stability, different things. So when I plant and move I’m sure-footed and moving well, which I think definitely shows on the grass when you’re able to hit and move and hit a good shot behind your movement.

WTA Insider: You didn’t drop a set. Pretty dominating week for you en route to the title. Did it look easier than it actually was?

Vandeweghe: Actually it was funny. Craig told me I didn’t lose a set and I was like “Oh, really? OK.” It wasn’t anything special. It was actually really not such an easy tournament for me mentally. I wasn’t mentally engaged for some matches and other matches I was. My second round match against Nao Hibino, honestly I went out there and I was just like I don’t want to play tennis today. It was just like that.

I think like everyone they show up to work and I don’t feel like working today. It happens to everybody and it’s just getting through those moments definitely I think are stepping stones to making yourself not only a better player but a better person out there on the tennis court. So it was day-by-bay, match-by-match, it was just trying to survive myself sometimes.

WTA Insider: How much of that is you just wake up on the wrong side of the bed, or that you’re thinking of other things? Are you able to isolate why you might feel like that on any given day?

Vandeweghe: Sometimes it is something maybe at home that happened the day before, during the tournament, or maybe it’s something to do with nothing completely relevant to tennis. For me it wasn’t any of those. I was just honestly a crabby person this week (laughs).

It was nothing going on at home. My mom was sending me videos of my puppy swimming in the pool and dumb things like that. My sister sent me pictures of her new haircut. So it wasn’t like I was getting any bad news at home or someone broke up with me. I was just a crabby person this week. I don’t know.

WTA Insider: It seems to have worked out Ok for you.

Vandeweghe: Yeah. It was actually nice to get on the court and play and compete. I used the fire that I had. Usually outside the court I’m pretty chill and happy go lucky, I guess you could say, maybe not openly in your face but definitely a relaxed individual.

But I think I used the piss and vinegar that I had in my stomach of just I’m so mad at today and the clouds being out, or the sky being blue, or whatever the reason was and transferred it to the court and just dismantled people at times.

WTA Insider: There was a swagger, an edge to you this week. Did you feel that?

Vandeweghe: Yes. It helps when you have confidence going into a tournament. Comparing the clay court tournaments to my grass court tournament season last year to this year, or even in previous years, there’s just no comparison. I excel on the grass. I excel on the hard courts. I haven’t figured out a scenario when I excel on the clay, which is something I’m always going to be battling with.

It’s not easy to play on your least favorite surface where you’re not rewarded for your good play. Or your good shots. You have to start over and rebuild the point. Here on the grass and hard courts it’s pretty simple. I get rewarded for what I do well and my game translates extremely well to both surfaces.

I felt confident after my first round match. I was super nervous going into my first round match. I was thinking about the wrong things, like I had such great results on grass and I have to keep it up and compete again. I put so pressure on myself to do well that I was really quite nervous in my first round match.

And also playing a local wildcard you don’t know what type of player they’re going to be. If they’re going to rise to the occasion of playing in front of their home crowd and just play out of their minds, or they’re actually a really good player, or if they’re going to crumble in the occasion. I’ve experienced it all in front of my own home crowd so you never know what’s going to happen.

So after I battled through that first round match it was just focusing on simple things. I mean, I played simple, stupid tennis, and that’s all it took to win.

WTA Insider: Do you have family in The Netherlands?

Vandeweghe: My family is actually in Belgium. I’m not Dutch. They came out yesterday for the semifinal. I saw some uncles, they drove their motorcycles from Belgium. I feel like I get a good welcome from the Dutch fans not only because I won the title but either they think I’m Dutch or the Belgians claim me for the week. I’ll take it either way. I’ll take the support.

WTA Insider: Different players react to winning a title differently. Either it relaxes them because it validates to them they’re playing good tennis, or it creates more pressure because the expectations are higher. How do you feel about it?

Vandeweghe: I mean I only have two other moments to build off of. I made the final in Stanford and I completely over-expected so much of myself immediately. I guess I got beat up a little bit afterwards. I went to the San Diego tournament straight after and got smoked first round and then I believe I didn’t play again until the US Open where I played Serena again int eh first round and I got absolutely trounced.

I mean the pressure I put on myself, Ok I made a final I should make another final the next week, I was just wet behind the ears and didn’t realize each tournament is different. There’s different adversities you face, there’s different highs, there’s different lows, you have to take it day by day. That’s kind of the fun thing about different tournaments and tennis in general. You play a different opponent every single day and whether it’s yourself or someone else who is your opponent that day, it changes.

The last time I won this title, I went immediately to Wimbledon and beat Muguruza again. And then the next round it all hit me of I just won a title, I’m tired, and everything like that, and I wasn’t able to nor did I have the experience to find it within myself to just manage through the match. That was my own fault.

But I think this tournament is in a different place. It’s the first tournament of the grass court season, so there’s two more tournaments ahead with Birmingham and Eastbourne. Who knows what will happen. But the big tournament you have to be ready for, that we’re all building towards, is Wimbledon. That’s what you have to focus on, how you’re going to be best prepared for Wimbledon.

WTA Insider: So are you leaving on a train or plane tonight to Birmingham?

Vandeweghe: Heck no. I’m going tomorrow morning on a plane. I can’t get up. I didn’t know if the rain was going to hold, I didn’t want to book a ticket and then cancel it and eat a bunch of money. So I was like I’ll go the next day on Monday. It’s kind of tour life I guess you could say.

WTA Insider: You win a title and in a couple of days you’re going to play top seed Agnieszka Radwanska in Birmingham. Such is life.

Vandeweghe: And worrying about baggage fees that I have coming up. (Laughs).

Listen to more of Vandeweghe’s post-match thoughts in the latest episode of the WTA Insider Podcast: