Garbine Muguruza achieved a lifelong dream of becoming a Grand Slam champion when she won the French Open in 2016.

The number four seed reached the final after beating Samantha Stosur in the semifinal and Tsvetana Pironkova in the quarterfinal, setting up a final against the number one seed, Serena Williams.

Williams won a staggering 23 Grand Slam titles during her career and is considered the best female tennis player of all time, given what she achieved in the sport.

Remarkably, Williams lost 10 Grand Slam finals to go with the ones she won and one of those came at Roland Garros in 2016 when Muguruza was the toast of the tennis world.

Photo Mehdi Taamallah/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Garbine Muguruza shares why she wanted to play Serena Williams in 2016

Lots of players typically found Williams intimidating to play against, and with that in mind, Muguruza has made a claim on the Tennis Insider Club podcast that is quite remarkable.

Not only did the Spaniard want to play Williams, but she also felt confident she would beat her, stating that she felt comfortable when facing the iconic figure on the other side of the net.

She said: “It was amazing, you know, especially playing Serena Williams in the final, which for me meant so much playing her. I know some people say I’m crazy that I wanted to have her in the final. People always asked why I wanted that, and I was just like, you know what, it’s been my dream always. It’s the ultimate challenge, and somehow it had a bit more about it for me.

“So it was amazing to win the French Open, you know, to win my first Grand Slam was amazing.

“I played very good. Nice. Yes, I played good. I was very confident. Somehow, I also played Serena before. It wasn’t the first time, and somehow I felt like she was not the hardest opponent in terms of hitting and hitting in the point. I felt like I could play her, you know. I had other opponents where I felt more uncomfortable, whether they were slicing more or awkward or playing slower, I don’t know, with her, I just felt we had aggressive tennis, and I felt really good that day. I was so confident, the puzzle came together.”

What Serena Williams said after losing to Garbine Muguruza

Clearly, as a born winner, Williams hated to lose this final, but she did have some kind words for the Roland Garros champion after the match as she lost with her usual grace.

Muguruza won the match 7-5, 6-4, and it proved a close encounter despite the fact that Williams wasn’t able to get herself a set on the board.

After losing to Muguruza, she said in her press conference: “She’s definitely hitting hard. It just depends on who I play. She just goes for broke on every shot and it works for her.

“I think she has a bright future. She knows how to play on the big stage, and she knows how to, clearly she now knows how to win Grand Slams.

Muguruza finished her career with two Grand Slam titles after claiming Wimbledon glory in 2017 when she ousted Venus Williams to deny her another major honour.

Her career finished last year when she was 31 and she can look back fondly on a career that saw her win two major titles and enjoy the summit of the world rankings after her Wimbledon win in 2017.