Former 18-time Grand Slam champion Chris Evert backed recently-crowned French Open champion Garbine Muguruza to be an ideal heir apparent to the top-ranked Serena Williams.
Muguruza gained fame after making the Wimbledon finals last year where she lost to Williams in the title-clash. The Spaniard, however, avenged the defeat in the French Open finals this year, thereby pulling off her maiden Grand Slam title that also saw her climb to No. 2 in the world.
That said, Evert believes Muguruza has the “power” which is needed in today’s game to succeed Williams at the numero uno position.
“Who’s going to be next, the next No.1 player, after Serena is gone? You’ve got to put your money on Muguruza because first of all, you have to have power in today’s game,” the 61-year-old Evert was quoted as saying by WTA Tennis.
“When I look at the next three, I look at (Agnieszka) Radwanska, (Angelique) Kerber and (Simona) Halep. I don’t think either of those three are going to end up No.1 in the world (sic). They don’t have that sort of overwhelming power. Muguruza does have it, very much like Serena, following in her footsteps.”
Meanwhile, Muguruza has been seeded second for the next week’s Wimbledon Championships.
