Former Champion Garbine Muguruza Admits French Open Fight Will Not Be Easy - UBITENNIS
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Former Champion Garbine Muguruza Admits French Open Fight Will Not Be Easy

The former world No.1 reflects on her opening win in Paris.

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Garbine Muguruza (photo by chryslène caillaud, copyright @Sport Vision)

19th seed Garbine Muguruza knows she has her work cut out as she embarks upon her seventh consecutive appearance at the French Open.

The 2016 champion kicked-off her Roland Garros campaign with a roller-coaster victory over Taylor Townsend. Prior to the grand slam, she has only managed to win two matches on the clay and has recently been hindered by injury. Meanwhile, her American opponent has the style of game which could cause her difficulty. Townsend won both singles and doubles titles at an ITF $100,000 in Charleston on the dirt earlier this month.

Despite the threat, an at times frustrated Muguruza overcame some inconsistency in her shot-making to prevail 5-7, 6-2, 6-2. Hitting 37 winners to 29 unforced errors and winning 72% of her first service points. The latest win is Muguruza’s 25th in the tournament. She has won more matches in Paris than at any other grand slam.

“I knew it was going to be a challenge no matter who my opponent was. We always know that the first rounds are difficult. It’s the first match of a Grand Slam, it’s a little adventure.” Muguruza said during her press conference.

During what was the first match to take place on the newly built Simona Mathieu Court, Muguruza failed to find her consistency throughout the opening set. Allowing Townsend to expose her vulnerabilities on the court. After trading breaks midway, the American managed to breakthrough whilst leading 6-5. As Muguruza serve to stay in contention, the 23-year-old pounce by racing to a 40-0 advantage. She then secured the 7-5 lead with the help of a near-perfect forehand winner down the line.

Since making her debut at Roland Garros back in 2013, Muguruza has never lost in the first round of the tournament. Determined to uphold that record, she battled back with a clinical two-set performance. Securing a double break in both frames, the 25-year-old increased the aggressiveness of her shot-making for force her opponent to make errors. In what was a dramatic change of momentum, Muguruza closed out the match by winning 12 out of 16 games played. Booking her place in the second round with the help of a delicate forehand drop shot winner.

“Playing Taylor, she had a different style of game, a very lefty player. Super talented. So it took me a while to feel better in the court, to get the rhythm, to to have a game plan.” Muguruza explained.
“It was a tough match. I’m happy to go through.”

Muguruza enters this year’s tournament in a somewhat different mindset to 12 months ago where she was the third seed. At 19th in the world, she is battling to stay within the world’s top 20. A position she has held continuously since June 2015. The only silver lining is that few are pinning their title hopes of her, which gives the Spaniard less expectation to live up to.

“I felt more at ease than last year, because I’m not really fighting for my title.” She said.
“But it’s not always easy to start a tournament. I try to go as far as possible. We always have a lot of pressure. But I don’t ask myself the question all the time. Sometimes in the past, I was focusing too much on these aspects that were putting pressure on me.”

With women’s tennis known for its unpredictability, it may be a bit unfair to dismiss Muguruza’s title chances completely. After all, she is a two-time grand slam champion and former world No.1.

“I think to win a Grand Slam you don’t only have to play beautiful and have great shots. It’s a combination of having the X factor, because everybody plays well, but only a few can win Grand Slams.” She explained.
“I think a very complete player, having the courage, having the consistency of winning many matches, dealing with the pressure of being in a Grand Slam and advancing. It’s a puzzle that you’ve got to put together, and it’s not easy.”

Muguruza reached the semi-finals of the French Open last year. She will play Sweden’s Johanna Larsson in the second round.

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Coco Gauff And Aryna Sabalenka Struggle Through In Indian Wells Openers

The duo were pushed to three sets in their first matches played at this year’s WTA 1000 event.

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Coco Gauff admits she didn’t play her best tennis at Indian Wells on Saturday after coming through a rollercoaster three-set battle. 

The world No.3 needed more than two hours to oust France’s Clara Burel 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(4). Gauff found herself trailing multiple times during the match. After losing the opening set, the reigning US Open champion then had to battle back from a 0-4 deficit in the decider. Capitalising on some tentative hitting from Burel who was bidding to record the biggest win of her career. 

Despite prevailing, it was a far from vintage performance from Gauff who hit six double faults and 14 unforced errors during the first set alone. She also struggled behind her second serve, winning just 12 out of 36 points played. 

“I think for me it’s just getting through that match definitely meant a lot,” Gauff said. “Could have easily thrown in the towel. But honestly, I was just telling myself, like, win or lose, I don’t want to have any regrets on the court. I want to be like I gave myself the best opportunity to win, and I did that.
“Am I proud of how I played? Not really, to be honest. But the fight, I am proud of. I am eager to improve. I think it wasn’t my best tennis at all. I think I just have a lot of improvement that I can do to get better.”

The 19-year-old has become the first teenager in the last 15 years to have won 50 or more matches at WTA 1000 events. She will next play Lucia Bonzetti.

“That’s pretty cool,” Gauff commented on her latest milestone. “I feel like I have a lot of stats and stuff like that. Hopefully I can close this chapter of my life off good. I’m really happy with how my teenage years went.” 

Sabalenka avoids major upset 

Aryna Sabalenka was another player to experience trouble during their opening match after outlasting Peyton Sterns 6-7 (2), 6-2, 7-6 (8), in a clash that lasted almost three hours. The world No.2 was on the verge of losing and had to save four match points when down 4-5 in the final set. Despite that blip, she held her nerve to break back before prevailing in a tightly contested tiebreaker. 

“Wow, I think I was right when I see this tattoo of a tiger and I was fighting today like a tiger,” said Sabalenka. “It’s just crazy what happened. She’s an unbelievable player.
“She played crazy tennis. She said at the net, ‘I had you,’ so she’s right. I was probably a little bit lucky to get this win. Super happy to get through this.”
“I didn’t play my best tennis and she was crushing it like crazy. I was just trying to stay in the game and keep fighting for every point. But this match definitely goes into the book of craziest matches and the best matches of my career.”

Sabalenka is hoping to go one step better in Indian Wells than 12 months ago when she reached the final before losing to Elena Rybakina, who has pulled out of the tournament due to gastrointestinal issues. 

Awaiting the Belrussian in the next round will be Emma Raducanu in what will be the first meeting on the Tour. 

Elsewhere, Naomi Osaka posted a convincing 7-5, 6-3, win over world No.15 Luidmila Samsonova. It is the first time she has beaten a top 20 player since returning to competitive tennis following the birth of her child. 

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Caroline Wozniacki Expresses Delight After Vekic Win, Ons Jabeur Crashes Out

Caroline Wozniacki earned a big win over Donna Vekic at Indian Wells while Ons Jabeur crashed out.

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Caroline Wozniacki is into the third round at Indian Wells after toppling Donna Vekic 7-6(3) 6-3 while Ons Jabeur crashed out.

The former Australian Open champion produced a resilient and clinical display to knock out Vekic in straight sets.

It was a clinical display on return as Wozniacki neutralized the Croatian’s serve to break on three occasions to reach the third round.

Speaking after the match Wozniacki described Indian Wells as one of the best tournaments in the world and was happy with the performance, “Donna is a great competitor, great player. I thought we both played really well today. Just happy to be through this one,” the 33 year-old told the WTA website.

“I’m here because I love to be here. You know, I’m lucky enough that I have been given some wildcards so I’m able to play these big tournaments and compete against the best players in the world.”

Wozniacki will now face Katie Volynets in the third round after the American stunned sixth seed Ons Jabeur.

The world number 131 recorded the biggest victory of her career against the out-of-sorts Tunisian in a 6-4 6-4 win.

In an interview after the match Volynets described how much it meant to her to beat one of her idols, “I’m so honored to have a wild card here and I’m so honored to play Ons,” the wildcard told the WTA website.

“I’ve been watching her on TV for years so it’s just such an honor to play here on this court against such a wonderful player. I’m definitely pleased with how I was able to execute today.

“I think it was very close the entire time. She was throwing in some amazing drop shots and slices and injecting some pace. I’m glad I was able to overcome that.”

The winner of Wozniacki and Volynets will play the winner of Veronika Kudermetova against Angelique Kerber.

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Simona Halep To Make Tennis Return In Miami

Simona Halep has a wildcard into the Miami Open.

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Simona Halep will make her return to tennis in Miami after receiving a wildcard for the tournament.

The Romanian hasn’t played competitively for 19 months with her last appearance being a first round defeat to Daria Snigur at the 2022 US Open.

After her appearance in New York, Halep would be banned for four years from competitive tennis after failing a doping test.

A lengthy appeal process followed from Halep which eventually saw her ban reduced by the Court Of Arbitration For Sport to nine months, therefore allowing her to resume competitive tennis with immediate effect.

It hasn’t taken long for Halep to make her next step as the Romanian announced on Instagram that she has received a wildcard for the Miami Open.

It will be interesting to see what shape Halep is in as it would have made more logical sense for the former Roland Garros Champion to begin her comeback on clay.

The 32 year-old has made nine appearances in Miami and her best performance has been reaching the semi-finals in 2015 and 2019.

Time will tell whether Halep can repeat her past success with the Miami Open starting on the 19th of March.

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