Garbine Muguruza coasted to success at the Western & Southern Open Tuesday night. The world number four figured out the left handed style of Beatriz Hadadd Maia making it a rough night for her in straight sets 6-2,6-0 on Center Court at the Linder Family Tennis Center.
This was a first time meeting between two players on the different side of the spectrum. The Brazilian was facing a top ten contender for just the second time this season but stood very little chance of defeating the world number four. So far, she had done well to perform her best winning both qualifying rounds before upsetting Lauren Davis in straight sets. The southpaw’s forehand could give Wimbledon champion trouble but would have to watch for a quick regroup from the Spaniard.
Haddad Maia held service in the opening game with good ball striking with the left forehand. She challenge Muguruza in the second game but couldn’t get close to a break. In response from her efforts, the fourth seed attacked the Brazilian and countered with a break of her own to lead. Haddad Maia held her end and broke Muguruza giving the notion that the set wasn’t going to be an easy trek for the top seed player.
The fifth was the show of fight from the world number four as she began to focus on weakening the left hander and earn the break in the fifth. Muguruza brought together the same strategy to down Haddad Maia and hold serve for a two game margin. The stress was getting to her as she committed two double faults on her service that killed the chance to fight on deuce.
She had to fight against the service of Muguruza who vied for the set lead going into the eighth. She put the backhand to work which busted Haddad Maia to the point of struggling on returns. She gained two points but couldn’t fight off the pressure which ended in Muguruza’s set victory after 38 minutes.
When it looked as if the Brazilian would counter for a shot at pushing Muguruza in the second, the exact opposite happened. The fourth seed dominated every game going forward in the set blasting shots from her end while the problems from her opponent got worse. Her forehand continued to record errors which led to a mental frustration for southpaw.
She let it get the best of her despite pleas from her coach to work out the kinks. She instead watched as her fight became microscopic against the Spaniard who pushed with all her might to win the bagel. It took her just 65 minutes to get into the third round with the serve averaged out and a second return that did wonders to seek out victory.
With the first match out of the way, she would prepare for Thursday’s opponent to come between Daria Kasatkina and American Madison Keys.
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