Garbine Muguruza almost became a victim of the first round jitters at the Australian Open Monday. The seventh seed regrouped in the second set against Marina Erakovic to keep things in straight sets 7-5, 6-4 at Margaret Court Arena on the grounds of Melbourne Park.
This was the second time that the players had met in the first round of the Aussie Open. The Spaniard defeated the 28 year old New Zealander getting out of trouble in the opening set before shutting her down completely to win in straight sets. The world number seven has been on a slow comeback since winning the French Open last season. With a new year in play and her quarterfinal run at Brisbane, she has the first major of the season to make a statement on where she’ll stand after the opening round.
Both opened with a hold of service followed by strong answers in their second games against one another. Erakovic made it clear of her intentions to be a strengthened opponent while Muguruza answered back with a clean response. They remained on service hold through six games giving the notion of a tight bout on court.
The Spaniard got the best of Erakovic in the seventh game as she lost the point with a forehand unforced error allowing Muguruza to run away with it. Erakovic leveled back with a win in the eighth before going ahead with the lead in the ninth putting Muguruza on the hot seat. She served in the tenth but found herself in a draw with the New Zealander until she got on the break point. The Spaniard denied her that chance forcing deuce immediately after. An ace to grab the advantage allowed her to line drive a shot that pushed the set toward extra games.
She made good on her attacks getting the ball in the 12th with the lead in hand that gave her the set victory on a long ball ending 44 minutes of play with Erakovic. Despite the victory on court, a cause for concern came for the seventh seed who called for the trainer to check out her recent thigh injury that has caused her troubles. She took a medical timeout hoping to come back to begin the second set.
The leg of Muguruza didn’t seem to be solved as her opponent ran off with a sizable lead that gave her a three game winning streak to begin the second set. She made another call to the medical trainer who came out to wrap her upper right thigh in order to continue. Muguruza returned to snap the winning streak of Erakovic getting the win on serve in the fourth. The 28 year old kept the lead in her favor but watched her strong opponent make the slow comeback.
The Spaniard contained her side on service that allowed her to reach a one game margin holding Erakovic on serve in the seventh. Muguruza completed the comeback leveling the score in game eight where she fought tooth and nail on deuce but got the win on a drive away from the New Zealander. The wheels for the 28 were coming off fast as the seventh seed reached 40-0 ready to take it. Despite giving up a point, Muguruza got the important break to serve for the match and bring her roller coaster ride of a first round to a conclusion. It was a run to the home strength and for the world number seven, it ended in a strong smash on 40-0 that gave her match point ending it in 1 hour and 37 minutes.
Despite not having the greatest performance on court, her willingness to power through the pains got her to the next round where she’ll face the winner between Samantha Crawford and Lauren Davis.
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