hitting a double fault, then two points later a backhand long. On her second championship point, Williams would take it, a Muguruza forehand flying wide.

Williams bounced about the court after the score was announced, then the two embraced at the net. Muguruza wiped away tears at her chair, the No. 20 seed playing in just her third career final.

"I mean, I couldn't stop crying," Muguruza told reporters of her trophy-ceremony moment. "So many people are clapping. I make all these people feel this on a tennis court? I was like, I don't know, 'I felt special.'"

It has been a Wimbledon full of challenges for Williams, who captured her 68th career title. In the third round she was two points from defeat against British No. 1 Heather Watson beforecoming through 7-5 in the third set. In the fourth round she beat sister Venus, their first meeting at Wimbledon in six years. Then came victories over Victoria Azarenka (after being down by a set) and Maria Sharapova (pure dominance).

Williams was well aware of the history she was playing for throughout this fortnight, halfway through the tournament asking members of the media to no longer inquire about her chase of the Serena Slam or calendar Grand Slam.

"I'm fed up" of talking about it, she reasoned.

Her achievement is that much more impressive: Williams has now won eight of 13 majors since linking up with French coach Patrick Mouratoglou following her 2012 defeat in the first round of the French Open. It was her first Wimbledon championship since that year,