Garbine Muguruza has spoken about the downside of travelling the world on the tour during an interview with Spanish radio station Onda Cero.
The world No.3 has enjoyed a breakthrough season by reaching the final at Wimbledon and claiming her first premier title at the Beijing Open. During her lengthy interview with the radio station, the Spaniard candidly admitted that she doesn’t have any close friends on the WTA tour.
“Friends is quite difficult to have. It gets me a little sad, I see every week there are girls my age are all very nice but they are my competition”. Muguruza said.
Muguruza isn’t the first player on the WTA Tour to speak about the isolation that players experience. Some even prefer to not have any close friends on the tour as they battle to the top. Eugenie Bouchard said earlier this year at the Australian Open that she doesn’t want to form any ‘close friendships’ on the tour. The Canadian explained that she want’s to remain focused on the tour and not have any distractions. Another player with the same approach as Bouchard is Maria Sharapova, who has spoken about her friendships on the tour in the past.
“I’m not really friendly or close to many players,” Sharapova said.
“I have not a lot of friends away from the courts, but in all different parts of the world. But I wouldn’t say I’m really close to a lot of players. I think just because you’re in the same sport doesn’t mean that you have to be friends with everyone just because you’re categorized, you’re a tennis player, so you’re going to get along with tennis players”. She explained.
Besides discussing the at-times lonely life on the tour, Muguruza also spoke about her upcoming season where she could play alongside Rafael Nadal at the Rio Olympics. Describing the idea of the two playing doubles, the 21-year-old said that it would be ‘amazing’ if it happens. The endorsement by Muguruza means that her Olympic ambition will now depend on Nadal and what he plans to do in Rio.
Leading up to 2016, Muguruza will be training in California to get use to the hot climate for next month’s Australian Open. Speaking about her improvements required for 2016, the world No.3 spoke about both her physical and mental game.
“It’s a set of things, but obviously (have to) improve physically because every day (tennis) requires more strength and power. Psychologically also to maintain this level of tennis and games, which is more complicated”. Muguruza said.
The full interview (in Spanish) can be heard below.
Source – ondacero.es
