Garbine Muguruza’s hiatus from tennis looks set to continue for the foreseeable future after she said the sport currently has ‘no place’ in her routine.
Muruguza, who has won two Grand Slam titles in her career, hasn’t played a professional match since losing in the first round of the Lyon Open in January. She had struggled with her consistency for over a year on the Tour. Between March 2022 and January this year, she has only won back-to-back matches in one out of 17 tournaments played. Prompting her to take an extended break from the sport.
Speaking to Women’s Health Magazine, the 30-year-old appears to be enjoying her time away from the sport and currently has no intention of setting a comeback date.
“Tennis has no place in my routine,” said Muguruza. “I still pay attention to my peers, from time to time I can play but not intensely, more for fun. It doesn’t occupy my mind, my day or my routines, I’m really taking a real break and trying to stay away from the court.
“I am living this break very happily since it was something that my body and my mind needed so I am really enjoying these moments.”
Muguruza has held the No.1 ranking for four weeks during her career and has won 10 WTA titles with the most recent of those being the 2021 WTA Finals. She is one of only a handful of players to have beaten both of the Williams sisters in Grand Slam finals. Defeating Venus Williams at the 2016 French Open and then Serena Wiliams at the 2017 Wimbledon Championships.
Whilst she is maintaining her fitness and is now also a Zumba instructor, Muguruza admits she would need to elevate her level even further if she wishes to return to professional tennis.
“My motivation is always very high, but in a world as competitive as high-level tennis, I hold on very strongly to the fact that if I don’t train, my opponents will and they will beat me because they will be more prepared.” She concluded.
Before pausing her career, Muguruza was coached on the Tour by Conchita Martinez who is the tournament director for this year’s Billie Jean King Cup finals. Speaking to Ubitennis during Wimbledon this year, Martinez admitted that the two may not resume their partnership if she returns to the sport.
“We have to see. We stopped as she was going to take a longer time off than expected so we parted ways but you never say no to what may happen in the future,” she commented.
Muguruza has earned more than $24M in prize money during her career.
