Meet Garbine Muguruza, the Woman Standing Between Serena Williams and History

Garbine Muguruza grew up idolizing Serena Williams. Now the 21-year-old is the only person standing in the way of Williams, a 21st Grand Slam title and another "Serena Slam."

Saturday, the Venezuelan-born Spaniard will make her Grand Slam final debut, against Williams, at Wimbledon. 

"I don't even have words to explain how happy I am. I worked all my life to achieve this moment so there are no words," Muguruza said after her semifinal win on Thursday, per the WTA Tour website. 

Muguruza will also make her debut in the WTA's top 10 on Monday. Unlike other young stars, such as Eugenie Bouchard, Laura Robson, Heather Watson and Madison Keys, Muguruza rose up the rankings without much fanfare—at least from the media. 

Now she will be ranked ahead of all of them. 

So just who is this hard-hitting shot-maker?

Her full name is Garbine Muguruza Blanco. Her father is Spanish, and her mother hails from Venezuela. Her family moved to Barcelona when she was six. Although she enjoys dual citizenship, Muguruza plays tennis under the Spanish flag. 

Last year, before deciding which country to represent in the Fed Cup, Muguruza told TennisHead magazine, “It’s difficult. My family, half is in Spain and half is in Venezuela. Someone’s going to hate me so I don’t want to choose.”

As one of the tour's "Rising Stars," Muguruza sat down with WTATennis.com to talk about her favorite things, which includes Rihanna's music and playing pingpong.

Her doubles partner, Carla Suarez Navarro, is from Spain. The two won the Aegon Classic in Birmingham, England, in June, their second WTA doubles title. Fellow Spaniard Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor is her best friend on the tour, and they won a doubles title together in 2013.

If she weren't playing tennis, Muguruza said she'd probably be an actress. She enjoys going to movies and became nervous when she ran into actor Antonio Banderas, per Nick Harris of the Daily Mail, who was at Wimbledon to see Rafael Nadal.

At 6'0", 161 pounds, Muguruza is an imposing figure on the court. She walks with a swagger reminiscent of NFL wide receivers or NBA point guards. 

That walk is the strut of confidence. She believes she can compete with anybody, including Williams. 

After defeating Williams at the 2014 French Open, Muguruza spoke with reporters about how hard it was to get past playing her idol:

"

It's very difficult, because since I was a child when I turn on the TV, I see her play. Everything, when I'm practicing, Okay, how Serena serves, how she plays a backhand. I saw like 100 videos of her. But it was really difficult to be able to, okay, be calm, and say, 'It's another player.' But I think I did it, and that was the reason I could play like this. 

"

Like Williams, Muguruza is intense on the court and playful away from tennis. 

Although Serena Williams is one of her favorite players, Muguruza told reporters that she has learned from Venus too. "You see Williams sisters, the power, the aggressive, the confident (sic) they have in themselves."

She adopted their aggressive style, putting relentless pressure on opponents. Against Muguruza, the server is always under attack. When she defeated Williams at Roland Garros, she jumped on the first and second serve. It was something many players are afraid to do against Serena. 

But not Muguruza, who has taken as many sets off Williams (three) in two years as Maria Sharapova has in their last 17 matches.  

Earlier this year, Williams beat Muguruza in the fourth round at the Australian Open in three sets. When asked why she thought Sharapova struggled against Williams, Muguruza explained to reporters that it's a bad matchup for the Russian. 

"Obviously has to be mental. When you are losing to her 10 years, there is something in your head blocking during the match," Muguruza said. "I think maybe improve more the way she plays to beat her. I think the way she plays is not the way to beat Serena. That's what I saw in the 10 years. What can I say?"

Muguruza believes she has the game and experience to beat Williams on Saturday. "She knows that I can win against her, that I'm not afraid," Muguruza, who beat Williams 6-2, 6-2 in the second round of last year's French Open, said to the Associated Press on Friday (via ESPN). "I don't think she's really used to this. Serena, she doesn't lose so many matches in the year."

Agnieszka Radwanska, who lost to Muguruza in the semifinals and played Williams in the 2012 Wimbledon final, disagrees. When asked who she thought would win, Radwanska told reporters, "I don't think she can beat Serena in the final. I think Serena not going to let her do that, no, not in this tournament (smiling). But I wish her luck. It's going to be hard. If she do that, big respect."