Once again injury has halted Garbine Muguruza’s offensive on the tour as she becomes more frustrated with physical problems hindering her performance.
The latest issue is an Achilles injury, which forced her to retire after five games against Kateryna Bondarenko on Tuesday at the Dubai Duty Free tennis championships. She has struggled with the problem since last week’s rain-affected Doha Open, where she had to play both her first and second round matches on the same day.
“When I finished in Doha, that day that I – because of the rain, a lot of people played two matches, including me. The second one was very tough, and I remember that as soon as I went, after the match, to my room, I started to have a pain in my left Achilles,” Muguruza told reporters in Dubai according to Sport 360.
Since losing to Zhang Shuai in Doha, the French Open champion has been dodged continuously by the problem. Optimistically Muguruza doesn’t believe it is a major issue, however, it is having an impact on her training sessions.
“I have been training but on and off, honestly, because of the pain. Some days it was a little bit better, some days it was a little bit worse.” She admitted.
Winning nine matches so far this year, including four at the Australian Open, the 23-year-old has had to also contend with her physical setbacks. At the Brisbane International, where she played a series of marathon matches, Muguruza was forced to withdraw from the semi finals due to an abductor injury.
Now the pain has shifted from the abductor to the Achilles, warning signals has been shot ahead of the prestigious BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Nevertheless, the Spaniard remains quietly confident that she will be ready in time for the American swing of the tour, which features back-to-back premier tournaments.
“I will probably go home, get ready, treat my Achilles, or I don’t know exactly what it is. Just to clean that zone. I don’t want to have any pain. I don’t want to go on the court with pain,” Muguruza said about her next plan.
Returning to Barcelona, Muguruza will undergo an MRI scan to evaluate the problem concerning her Achilles.
