LONDON — Garbine Muguruza took control early, lost the momentum and then held on at the end to beat Agnieszka Radwanska and reach her first Grand Slam final.
The 21-year-old Muguruza lost six games in a row in one stretch but regrouped to defeat Radwanska 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 Thursday, becoming the first Spanish woman to advance to the Wimbledon final since Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in 1996.
Muguruza, who saved two break points in the final game, dropped face-first onto the grass on Centre Court after hitting a swinging forehand volley for a winner on her first match point.
“I don’t have words to explain it,” she said. “Just happy. I worked all my life to achieve this moment, so no words.”
At deuce in the final game, Radwanska held up her racket in the middle of the point to challenge a backhand from Muguruza that landed near the baseline. Radwanska had already hit a forehand return, and only challenged after her ball had bounced on the other side of the net and Muguruza lined up her next shot.
The video replay showed the ball had caught the back of the line, giving the point to the Spaniard. Radwanska looked in the direction of where her coach was sitting and gestured as if they had made a mistake in challenging the call.
“It was 50-50 call. I decided to challenge,” Radwanska said. “Wasn’t really good decision.”
The second semifinal pitted five-time champion Serena Williams against 2004 winner Maria Sharapova. Williams, who has won 26 straight Grand Slam matches, is chasing her fourth straight major title. She also is bidding for the third leg of a calendar-year Grand Slam, a feat last accomplished by Steffi Graf in 1988.
Williams has beaten Sharapova in 16 straight matches and has a career 17-2 record against the Russian. Sharapova beat Williams in the 2004 Wimbledon final for her first Grand Slam title.
In Friday’s men’s semifinals, seven-time champion Roger Federer plays 2013 winner Andy Murray, and defending champion Novak Djokovic faces Richard Gasquet.
Muguruza, the youngest of the four women’s semifinalists, will bid to become the first Spaniard to win the Wimbledon women’s title since Conchita Martinez in 1994. Sanchez Vicario lost in the 1995 and 1996 finals.
Radwanska, who lost in the 2012 Wimbledon final to Williams, was playing in her third Wimbledon semifinal and third in four years.
The big-hitting Muguruza overpowered Radwanska in the first set, pushing her around the court. She went up 2-0 and 3-1 in the second set and seemed to be cruising to a win, but the momentum shifted when Radwanska broke for 3-3 and ran off six games in a row to take the second set and go up 1-0 in the third.
“I was playing really, really good,” Muguruza said. “I mean, too good. So I had to, like, (stay) calm. Like, ‘Don’t get excited.’ And put (on) a poker face.”
Muguruza regained control when she broke for a 4-2 lead with a backhand winner. Muguruza was twice called for foot-faults on her first serve in the final set, including in the final game, but didn’t get rattled and held firm to close out the match.
For the match, she had 39 winners, along with 29 errors. Radwanska had 16 winners and just seven unforced errors.
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