Garbine Muguruza was clear to the second round of the French Open Monday afternoon. The defending champion avoided a comeback from Francesca Schiavone on Court Phillipe Chatrier only to fall in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 at Roland Garros. The 2016 champion kept the heat on her opponent at every chance to bring together an opening statement to the tournament.
In total, the two Europeans met twice in competition with the Spaniard winning against Schiavone at last year’s Fed Cup matchup. On the clay court, the Italian had Muguruza’s number beating her in a lopsided three setter in Rome in 2014 that saw the 36-year-old dig in the final set. With Muguruza being defending champion and the draw already shaken up, the world number five had to battle against a neck injury and the biggest target on her back when going for back to back titles.
She took control quickly against Schiavone with a solid triple break before consolidating it with a double game point on serve where she attacked the Italian’s backhand returns. Schiavone dug in to make something of her service game forcing deuce with Muguruza but unable to lock down the advantage. It led to the Spaniard taking the game with ease giving her a sizable lead. Schiavone knew that it was turning into a big problem and had to regroup quickly in the fourth. With some answers to Muguruza’s service, the 36-year-old counterattacked on the returns that gave her a double break point chance locking down her first win.
It seemed to be enough oomph from the veteran Italian to make things difficult for Muguruza going forward. She took the fifth game deep with the Spaniard in play doing everything to avoid giving up another game. It went to Schiavone who locked the win with a clear cut winner down the line to sit a game down. In a sudden halt to the match, play was suspended on the count of noisy chairs in the stands. When the problem was remedied, the players resumed action with Muguruza opening the sixth.
The world number five got back to work and dominated Schiavone with a love service before adding a triple break win to serve for the set. While she carried an eight game point streak, it became too much for the Italian as she had nothing to answer for it in the eighth where another love service gave Muguruza the set lead after 44 minutes of play. The actions of the Spaniard took a major toll on the Italian’s offense that was below 40 percent landing less than six shots on either end. With that and just 5 of 18 on the returns, it was clear that her efforts needed to increase going into the second or face a quick exit.
Muguruza was still on fire extending her points streak to 12 before the Italian had something to bring it to an end. It was just a small point as she double faulted on the next try to hand the break with ease. Frustrations were very much apparent in the 36-year-old as she screamed out her troubles in the second while Muguruza remained calm and focused. Despite the heavy opposition, Schiavone remained adamant about being a competitive force on court and proved her worth in the third game. Showing restraint and aggression, the Italian saw her way to securing a service win.
It became something of a major improvement for the veteran as she found her way to dictating the set going forward. The Italian overtook Muguruza on the scoreboard before an attack by the Spaniard came into play. She regrouped on the serve in the fifth trying to avoid further losses. On the second break, she was assured of a tie as Schiavone’s return landed wide on the short rally leveling the score at three all.
With both ladies on an even keel, it became a power struggle with each one in control of their service shots and control on the rallies. The fifth seed made her mark in the ninth with a strong triple break that had the Italian sitting on the edge of defeat. Muguruza served for the match but Schiavone had good responses to avoid another shutout. She took the lead briefly before a bad unforced error handed her a chance for the break and a push forward.
Muguruza did everything to avoid that landing a winner to bring deuce into play. Four breaks and match point attempts were what it took to bring Schiavone down as she made every point difficult to attain. It finally arrived on a return wide from the Italian that saw her tournament come to an end after 1 hour and 33 minutes of play.
With it being a somewhat light opening round, the world number five would only prepare for more as she’ll take on the winner between Monica Niculescu and Annett Kontaveit.
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