Garbine Muguruza Switches Focus From Ranking Points To Enjoyment In Hunt For Form - UBITENNIS
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Garbine Muguruza Switches Focus From Ranking Points To Enjoyment In Hunt For Form

Ranked outside the WTA top 80 for the first time since 2013, Muguruza is hoping to stage a comeback with the help of a new perspective.

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8 months ago

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Garbine Muguruza (ESP) waves to the crowd after defeating Fiona Ferro (FRA) on No.2 Court in the first round of the Ladies' Singles at The Championships 2021. Held at The All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon. Day 1 Monday 28/06/2021. Credit: AELTC/Edward Whitaker

To say that last year was tough for Gabine Muguruza is a bit of an understatement. 

 

The Spaniard started 2022 among the best players in the world and was ranked No.3 as a result of her triumph at the WTA Finals just a couple of months earlier. However, the year didn’t go as planned for two-time Grand Slam champion Muguruza who won just 12 matches. In total, she played in 17 tournaments but only managed to score back-to-back victories in two of them. In October she plummeted down the rankings from 13th to 57th. 

Muguruza’s problems have continued into this season. She is yet to win a match and is now down to 82nd in the world which is her lowest position in almost a decade. January 2013 was the last time the 29-year-old was ranked outside the top 100. 

“I’ve had so many moments in my career where I’ve been so high, and other moments when I’ve not been so high. It’s a process of trying to get back up there,” the former world No.1 told The National. “Now I’m focusing on training hard and being humble.
“You have to know that maybe you haven’t had the success recently as you had in other years, but that’s fine because things can change very quickly.
“With tennis, one week it can go wrong, then next week it can go well, then everything changes again. I think experience helps me to stay calm in the not-so-good moments when I haven’t been playing as well or results haven’t followed.”

It is a frustrating situation for somebody of Muguruza’s ability to be in. At the 2021 WTA Finals, she scored four wins over top-10 players but since then hasn’t beaten anybody ranked higher than No.31 in the world. 

Eager to get back to the top of the sport, she has decided to change her outlook on how she approaches the Tour. Muguruza, who is coached by Conchita Martinez, now says her main priority is enjoying her tennis. If this is achieved, she is confident the results will follow in due course. 

“I feel that this year it’s more about keeping it calm and more simple,” she said. “Last year I put myself under a lot of pressure, telling myself to keep going to stay at the top all the time. That definitely didn’t help me, and it was a bit of a struggle.
“This year, yes ranking is important – I’ve been at every possible ranking – but that is not my priority anymore. Now it’s about enjoying my time on court and taking the trophies back home, then we’ll see what the ranking is.”

Muguruza’s next test will be at the Abu Dhabi Open, which will get underway on Monday. She has been drawn to play Karolina Pliskova in the first round who recently reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open. Then if she wins, she faces Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina. 

“I played some good tennis [in Australia]. A bit disappointed about the quarter-final but overall my level is there. Of course, there are some things to improve to become more solid but overall the situation is quite good,” Pliskova said ahead of the first round clash. 

12 months ago Muguruza reached the third round in Abu Dhabi before losing to Maria Sakkari. 

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Alexander Zverev beats Roman Safiulin to to claim his second title of the year in Chengdu

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9 hours ago

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26/09/2023

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Alexander Zverev came back from a set and a break down to beat Roman Safiulin 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 at the Chengdu Open claiming the 21st title of his career. 

 

Zverev has moved to seventh seventh in the ATP Race to Turin boosting his chances of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals. 

Safiulin  saved three break points in the 10th game of the first set, which went on serve en route to the tie-break. Safiulin earned three mini-breaks to win the tie-break 7-3. 

Safiulin earned an early break in the second game to take a 2-0 lead. Zverev broke straight back and forced the second set  to a second tie-break. Zverev went up a mini-break three times, but Safiulin pulled back on serve each time. Zverev was two points from defeat at 5-5 in the tie-break of the second set but he won the final two points to win the second set. 

Zverev earned the decisive break in the fourth game to open up a 3-1 lead and closed out the win on his first match point. 

Zverev won his second title of the season after his triumph in home city Hamburg last July. “He is playing the best tennis of his life for sure. The way he was winning this week. I think he beat a lot of great players quite easily, so I think that he was playing well. Obviously, I am happy to be able to come back and to win this title”, said Zverev. 

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Daria Kasatkina beats Marta Kostyuk to advance to the second round in Tokyo

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16 hours ago

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26/09/2023

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Daria Kasatkina came back from one set down to beat Marta Kostyuk 3-6 6-4 6-3 in 2 hours and 24 minutes reaching the second round at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. 

 

Katatkina is playing her first tournament since the US Open, where she lost to Aryna Sabalenka in the fourth round. 

Kasatkina set up a second round match against Greek qualifier Despina Papamichail, who beat Japanese lucky loser Sakura Hosogi 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 in 2 hours and 19 minutes. 

Kostyuk dropped just eight points on serve and broke serve in the fourth game to close out the first set 6-3. The second set featured nine service breaks in ten games. Kostyuk went up a break three times, but Kasatkina pulled back on serve each time. Kasatkina broke in the eighth and tenth games to seal the second set 6-4. 

Kostyuk went up a break twice in the third set, but she was broken back both times. Kasatkina drew level to 3-3, as Kostyuk made a overhead error, and won the final four games to seal the third set 6-4. 

Anastasya Pavlyuchenkova cruised past Donna Vekic 6-1 6-1 in just 74 minutes. Nineteen-year-old Linda Noskova saved one set point to beat Japanese lucky loser Himeno Sakatsume 6-2 7-5 setting up a second round against Anastasya Pavlyuchenkova. 

Ekaterina Aleksandrova came back from one set down to beat Anna Kalinskaya 6-7 (7-9) 6-1 7-5 in 2 hours and 21 minutes setting up a second round against Liudmila Samsonova. 

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Eight of the top 10 players in the line-up in Beijing

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18 hours ago

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26/09/2023

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The China Open, an ATP 500 hard-court tournament, is taking place for the first time since 2019 after a long break due to covid-19. 

 

Eight of the top 10 players in the ATP Ranking are lining up in the Chinese capital. Carlos Alcaraz will face a qualifier in the first round before a clash against either Karen Khachanov or Lorenzo Musetti in the second round. Alcaraz won six titles this year in Buenos Aires, Indian Wells, Barcelona, Madrid, Queen’s and Wimbledon during a successful 2023 season. 

The Spanish player could face a quarter final against Roland Garros finalist Casper Ruud. The Norwegian player will play against Jan-Lennard Struff, who made his come-back from injury last week in Zhuhai. The German player finished runner-up to Carlos Alcaraz in Madrid and to Frances Tiafoe in Stuttgart in his two finals earlier this year. 

Holger Rune has been drawn in the top draw and could meet Jannik Sinner, who won his first Masters 1000 title in Toronto and reached the semifinal at Wimbledon. Sinner will face Dan Evans, who won the Washington Open last August. Rune, who is currently ranked eighth in the ATP Race to Turin, beat Sinner in the semifinal in Monte-Carlo. The Danish player will face Felix Auger Aliassime in the first round. 

Alexander Zverev will start his campaign against Diego Schwartzman in the first round and is seeded to face Stefanos Tsitsipas, who meets Nicolas Jarry. Zverev won his first title of the season in Hamburg and reached the semifinal in Cincinnati and the quarter final at the US Open. 

Andrey Rublev will take on Cameron Norrie in the bottom half. 

Chinese Next Gen player Shang Juncheng will play against Yoshihito Nishioka in an all Asian first round clash. Shang reached the quarter finals in Washington and Atlanta. 

The most interesting first round matches are: Andy Murray vs Alex De Minaur (Masters 1000 finalist in Toronto) and US Open finalist Danil Medvedev vs Tommy Paul. Murray could face Danil Medvedev in the second round. 

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