Fourth seed Garbine Muguruza had to overcome an error-stricken opening set to see off Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Muguruza has reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros on the past two occasions. She was the overwhelming favourite in the match against a player who has only recorded two victories on the tour this year. These facts was disregarded in the match as an error-stricken Muguruza allowed Schmiedlova to dominate the opening set. A whopping 22 unforced errors from the Spanish player allowed the Slovakian to claim the first set after 48 minutes of play.
Trailing by a set, Muguruza started the second with a marathon 16-minute service game. The world No.4 has to fend off eight break points before winning the 1-0 lead to finally give herself some momentum in the match. Muguruza continued her upsurge in form by breaking Schmiedlova two consecutive times to lead 4-1. The lead was almost wiped away as Schmiedlova broke back but failed to hold her serve for 4-4. The Spanish No.1 held her nerve to seal the second set after a heavy backhand shot forced her rival to return the ball out.
The early danger seemed to have been avoided by Muguruza as the world No.4 raced to a 4-0 lead after 22 minutes in the deciding set. Just five unforced errors came from the Spanish player in those four games, a sharp contrast to her 40 in the two previous sets. There was still work to be done for Muguruza, who almost lost her lead after her rival clinched three straight games. Despite the late resurgence from Schmiedlova, it wasn’t enough to deny the win for Muguruza as she took victory after two hours and 26 minutes of play.
In her roller coaster match Muguruza produced a shocking 53 unforced errors to go alongside her 44 winners. In addition, she also won 70% of her first service points, but only 34% of her second.
Awaiting Muguruza in the second round will be French wildcard Myrtille Georges, who stunned Christina McHale 6-7(7), 6-0, 6-3.
“I have nothing to lose. I will just give my best.” Georges said about her upcoming match against Muguruza.
“I have some more time for preparation. I’m enjoying today’s match and then I will move on to preparing for the next one. I’ll try to play my best tennis and enjoy myself.
