On one side of the net is a familiar figure.  It is Serena Williams, the top seed and one of the most dominant figures in the sport.  On Saturday, she will be attempting to win her sixth Wimbledon title, to simultaneously hold all four major titles, and to keep her quest for a calendar-year Grand Slam alive.  Across from her will be one of the fresh faces and future stars of the WTA, Garbiñe Muguruza.  The Spaniard has made inroads at Roland Garros, but she had never won more than a single match at Wimbledon before making her run here to reach her first major final.  It will be the old guard versus the new when these two women commence their battle to be crowned 2015 Wimbledon Champion.

When dissecting the respective games of these competitors, there is plenty to suggest that this could turn into a thrilling final.  Muguruza is one of the handful of players who can match the power of Williams in every area of her game, and as such, has the ability to dictate her fair share of play.  One of the best ways for her to do this is to simply go hard up the middle against Williams and take away the angles, which will better help her avoid turning this into a running match.  Furthermore, the 20th seed has the skills to be effective up at the net, as she shown over the course of these Championships.  It is essential that she continue to move forward whenever the opportunity arises to take time away from Williams and keep her off balance.

Making Williams uncomfortable in this encounter is so important for the Spaniard, since the top seed is the better player.  If she is permitted to execute her best game, Williams will win this match because while their pace of shot is mostly equal, the American does have some key advantages.  For starters, both her first and particularly her second serve are a bit better than Muguruza's.  Williams is also clearly the more agile mover of the two, which not only gives her a greater chance of extending rallies when she needs to, but also to turn defense into offense with a single stroke. 

The big question in this final, though, is whether or not Williams will even be called upon to produce her best tennis, since there is no telling how Muguruza will react in her first major final.  The good news for her is that she defeated Williams a year ago at Roland Garros and went three sets with her in Australia earlier this season, so she knows she has the tools to hang with and beat the current No. 1.  Additionally, Muguruza came out of the gate strong against Agniezska Radwanska in the last round in what was her first semifinal at a Grand Slam. While she got tight in the middle of it, it bodes well that she did not allow the wheels to completely fall off and instead righted the ship to earn the victory.  Playing Williams on this stage is a different challenge, however, and it is unknown if she will be able to swing away with the freedom of youth and luxury of being the underdog, or if she will allow the occasion to negatively affect her game.

Of course, there is always the possibility that the occasion will hinder Williams as well.  Having been here so many times, it is easy to assume that Williams will be mentally rock solid in this final.  But while the cloud of uncertainty around her may not loom as large as it does around the Spaniard, it is appropriate to ponder if nerves will inhibit the performance of the American.  She is the one expected to win.  She is under pressure to pull off the difficult task of holding all four major titles at once, and even more pressure to keep her dream of winning all four majors in a single season alive.  In addition to striving to accomplish all of those things, she enters this final knowing that Muguruza is a player who can trouble her and may not make it easy.

The pieces of the puzzle are all there for this to be a blockbuster final, and if both women rise to the occasion, it will be.  Williams is and has to be the obvious favorite in this contest.  She is especiallya difficult to defeat in the latter rounds of tournaments, and with this being Muguruza's first major final, she is facing a tall task indeed.  But do not dismiss the Spaniard's chances.  She has scored some impressive victories to this point, has the talent to become a major champion, and there is no reason why she could not win her first Grand Slam title in Saturday's final.  Both women are worthy champions, and no matter which way this one pans out, it is going to be a huge Wimbledon for the victor.