Garbine Muguruza blasted her way past Johanna Larsson 6-4 6-1 to set up a third round showdown with Elina Svitolina in the third round.
The 2016 champion produced a powerful performance to cruise her way into the third round with a comfortable win over the tricky Swede.
After a difficult start, the Spaniard dominated the second to progress to the last 32 in what is a difficult part of the draw.
Next up for Muguruza is a showdown with Elina Svitolina after she received a walkover as Kateryna Kozlova withdrew from the tournament.
It was a match that didn’t go the 19th seed’s way to start with as she struggled to cope with Larsson’s unique style and good net skills.
A good first set was played by Larsson as she managed to hit some good forehands and was able to finish points efficiently to Muguruza’s frustration.
However this level from Larsson only helped Muguruza raise her own play as the two time grand slam champion started to hit the ball much more cleanly.
After a break in the fifth game, Muguruza looked more relaxed and began to play with a lot more freedom as she set the pace of the match.
A tight hold of serve at the end sealed an impressive first set in 37 minutes as she looked to dominate the rest of the match.
The longer the match went, the more confident Muguruza was as she continued to dominate from the baseline as more unforced errors evolved from the Larsson racket.
A simply dominant performance was completed in just over an hour as she blasted her way into the third round in a much better display than her first round.
After the match, Muguruza seemed very happy with her performance as she gets ready for Friday’s big clash with Elina Svitolina, “Very happy, it’s another win at a grand slam, it is very important to win as many matches as possible,” Muguruza said in her on-court interview.
The former world number one will need to raise her level when she plays Elina Svitolina on Friday in a rematch from their Dubai clash, where the Ukrainian only dropped three games.
In other results there was also a win for 7th seed Sloane Stephens as she overcame Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-1 7-6(3) to reach the third round.
Next up for last year’s finalist is either Jennifer Brady or Polona Hercog.
