If there was a sense among the tennis cognoscenti that Garbine Muguruza had got a bit ahead of herself in terms of her standing within the sport following last year’s French Open victory, all the evidence suggests that the process of catching up is well and truly underway.

Tomorrow she will meet Venus Williams in the Wimbledon women’s singles final, but yesterday’s flaying of Slovakian outsider Magdalena Rybarikova was almost worthy of the five time champion’s younger sister in the brutal way she eliminated her opponent. Since the respect of peers is always sought after by the best, the assessment offered by the beaten woman was telling.

“I saw her playing also yesterday against Svetlana. I was like, ‘ooh,’ she’s really playing amazing right now, it was going to be very difficult for me,” said Rybarikova.

This was one of those occasions when having made an accurate prediction offers no sort of consolation. While they spent longer on court than Serena Williams had in her record 48 minute 6-2, 6-0 semi-final defeat of Elena Vesnina last year, she conceded the same number of games and looked equally commanding as she raced into the final in just 65 minutes, 6-1, 6-1. Muguruza may already be a Grand Slam champion, but Rybarikova believes the woman she faced has raised her game to another level.

“I have to say Garbine was playing amazing match. I mean, I never saw her playing that well,” she said. “It was very difficult for me. Obviously it was not my best day, but she didn’t give me much chance to do anything.”

There were moments towards the end that it was impossible not to feel sympathy for Rybarikova who looked more than a little embarrassed as she faced the prospect of being, as the tennis terminology goes, bageled in the second set and having previously removed the tournament’s third seed, Karolina Pliskova from the tournament, she admitted to being shocked by what happened.

Prior to her re-discovery of her best form here, though, the impression had been that Muguruza - the beaten finalist here two years ago when she put up a decent performance in losing in straight sets to Serena Williams - struggled slightly to deal with last year’s success when she took her turn to beat Serena in straight sets, not so much because of the added burden of expectation but because she was a bit too sure of herself immediately thereafter.

Arriving at Wimbledon as the second seed she was taken down a peg when beaten in the second round and then, in world ranking terms, several more over the following year until arriving in Paris for the defence of her title.

The manner of her departure there, leaving the court hurriedly following her defeat to French number one Kiki Mladenovic, then becoming tearful during her post-match press conference when complaining about the lack of respect she had been shown, meanwhile came across as petulant, albeit some of the comments she claimed had been directed her way had been unacceptable.

The impression has been at Wimbledon, that she has now been freed up, but Muguruza insists that is not the case, claiming instead to have embraced the experience of dealing with elevated expectations and all that comes with it.

“Once that tournament was over, I just changed the page,” she said. “It was a different situation for me going into a Grand Slam as a defending champion. It was just a good experience. No matter how it ended up, it was good to have that behind me and to look forward again for new objectives. It was something big to deal with. That’s it. I’m happy it’s behind me already. Hopefully I can feel that pressure always. I don’t think I’m playing with less pressure. I’m always tense and looking to win.”

Either way, whereas she was a relative unknown when she reached the final here two years ago, as she prepares to meet the older of the Williams sisters, Muguruza is a much more immediately recognisable figure in these parts now.

Coached by Conchita Martinez, the only Spanish woman to have won the Wimbledon singles title, she admitted that when she comes to Wimbledon she always studies the list of past champions, noting that “there are a lot that are repetitive.” In particular she pointed out that the surname Williams has appeared with great frequency in recent years and she clearly believes her own belongs up there.

“I look forward to just have it there, to put a Spanish name back there,” she said.

Whether she can achieve that remains to be seen and only time will tell whether she has the capacity to become a multiple winner, but as several players have pointed out in recent days, a key component in becoming a champion is believing in your ability to be so and in that regard Garbine Muguruza is fully armed.