2016 Wimbledon preview: Garbine Muguruza has tough opener vs. Camila Giorgi

Garbine Muguruza is the No. 2 seed at Wimbledon, a year removed from a loss in her first ever Grand Slam finals and less than a month removed from her first ever win in a Grand Slam final. Mugurza, 22, lost to top seed Serena Williams in the finals at The Championships in 2015, but scored a massive upset over the most dominant woman in tennis on the clay of Roland Garros earlier this month.

Now she’s hoping to take the next step and make it two major titles in a row, though once again a potential finals meeting against Williams looms. Muguruza is far from ever being favored in a head-to-head match against Williams despite her win in the finals of the French Open, but even thinking about the rematch at all is also jumping the gun.

That’s because Muguruza, who has a favorable draw overall, cannot overlook her opening round opponent: Italian veteran Camila Giorgi.

Giorgi, 24, was ranked 30th in the world at her best, in July 2015 and has never made it past the fourth round in a Grand Slam. But she is notably much better on grass than other courts, and that’s why she’s a tricky draw for Muguruza. That and Giorgi has beaten Muguruza in two of their three contested matches, including in the finals on the clay of the Madrid Masters in 2013 and the quarterfinals on the hard court of New Haven in 2014.

Their most recent outing, however, was an early-round match at the French Open in 2015, which Muguruza took in straight sets. There’s also the fact that Giorgi is riding a three-matching losing skid, including losses to Timea Babos and Heather Watson on the grass courts in Eastbourne and Birmingham, respectively. Still, Giorgi’s one WTA Tour title came on a grass court, and she also boasts an impressive 6-7 overall record against top-10 players.

When asked how she feels being a reigning Grand Slam champion, Muguruza said she felt no differently.

“The same,” she said. “Nothing has changed for me to look at Wimbledon differently. I’m thinking [it’s] weird to be back here because of last year, not because of a Grand Slam just two weeks ago.”

It certainly seems like Muguruza is handling the pressure well and has her head in the right place.

“I feel quite calm,” she said. “Like I did [in Paris].”

It would be a huge shock if Giorgi came out on top to be certain, but the head-to-head and her general success on grass aside, there is also the trend of first-time Grand Slam winners disappointing in their following major appearance. The last eight first-time Grand Slam winners have failed to reach the quarterfinals in their next tournament, with Angelique Kerber being the most-recent example after losing in the first round of the French Open.

Muguruza has lost her only match since winning the French Open title, a loss in the opening round on the grass courts of Mallorca to Kirsten Flipkens in straight sets. There will be a ton of pressure on her to perform and she carries massive expectations heading into the event. But she handled the pressure of a Grand Slam final once already, and if she plays a clean game predicated on a strong second serve against Giorgi, then she should be fine.

Muguruza and Giorgi are scheduled to go second on Centre Court on Wimbledon’s opening day Monday. Play begins at 8 a.m. ET with Muguruza and Giorgi’s match expected to begin around two hours later.