Garbine Muguruza had another thrilling match at the Western & Southern Open Friday. In a long three setter, the fourth seed battled on every opportunity against Svetlana Kuznetsova to win 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 on Center Court at the Linder Family Tennis Center.
The Spaniard put up a terrific stance against Madison Keys on Thursday leading to an important quarterfinal. Though she’s defeated the Russian number eight the last four times, her opponent still had moments of strength that if not held off could spell trouble for the world number six who is trying to get back into contention for the top spot in the WTA ranks. Kuznetsova hadn’t dropped a set so far in the tournament and with it being the third quarterfinal facing Muguruza perhaps this was her charm to win.
Muguruza came out of the gate easily capturing the first break of the match, but on her opening serve, the mistakes began to allow Kuznetsova to strike. She came back from 40-0 to force deuce where the fight for game point was a struggle for both. Muguruza had a double fault at one point during the stalemate, but after eight breaks and ten minutes surpassing in the game, an error on the return from Kuznetsova gave her a second victory.
The fourth seed earned a double break in the third giving her back the momentum she sought at the beginning of the set. She had her service in the fourth looking good but errors and another double fault let the Russian back in to get her first break and avoid a shutout. An important hold for her left a game down on Muguruza just in time to take a conference with her coach Carlos Martinez in which she had concern about the tension in her racket and its need for an adjustment as well as her ground strokes.
The sixth saw the two in another standoff for possession as Muguruza wanted to inch closer to the set while the Russian wished to level the playing field. She went four breaks with the Spaniard but good ball placement on her part made it difficult for the Russian who was down two games. She went on to dominate the eighth seed bagging the next eight points in a row. Onn the serve for the match, Kuznetsova won a point but couldn’t get any more off as Muguruza captured the set win and her seventh straight in their series between one another.
Kuznetsova tried to make something of starting the second set and got to 30-0 on her European rival. The hold was broken by the Spaniard who dominated the serve with big returns that earned her the break. Kuznetsova brought an end to another winning streak by Muguruza with the need for her serve to dictate. Despite the adversity, the 32-year-old stayed ahead on the scoreboard to etch one out for her benefit.
By the sixth game, it was a neck n neck game between Muguruza and Kuznetsov as they fought for the lead in the seventh. A bad double fault from the Russian gave Muguruza the break giving her a shot at pushing forward to ending things. During the break, Sam Sumyk came out to give her advice on dealing with the heavy winds that picked up on center court and ways to attack heavily on her opponent.
It came on a fight from 40-15 nailing deuce on a sharp ace way out of reach for Kuznetsova on service. It came to an end with an error on a slice from the fourth seed who let the third break chance for the Russian count and a four all tie. Making good work on the serve, Kuznetsova attacked Muguruza hard to earn a big victory and put pressure with a 5-4 lead. The Spaniard minimized the nerves while on serve and battled in rallies with the eighth seed to save the set forcing an extension of what would occur.
Kuznetsova was first to act with a service hold that once again put Muguruza on the edge of watching the match move forward. The fourth seed got into trouble against the second serve returns of Kuznetsova who had answers for her near the net which in turn created errors. Muguruza couldn’t handle the sudden movements of the Russian that brought an end to the set with a line drive to Muguruza’s left sending the match to the distance.
The strategy of volleys near the net were once again the order for Kuznetsova to begin the third. Muguruza had other plans to deal with the returns closing off the windows off opportunities and nailed down the win in the first. Kuznetsova earned herself a break as well putting a lot of fight to break the Spaniard by any means. When the success of the second was locked up, she consolidated it with a hold in the third to take the opening lead.
As the final set progressed, they found each other dead locked with one making the move to get out front. By the seventh it was Kuznetsova in the lead that had Muguruza in thought about the day before and her quest to fight in order to stay in the tournament. They remained tight on the score but the first to break for the match was the Russian taking big hits on the serve that gave her the 5-4 hold and nerves once again to be battled by Muguruza. Martinez was called out to talk with his athlete in what could be the final game to get her into the semifinals.
The fourth seed held serve despite heavy hitting from Kuznetsova that ultimately spelled a seriously dramatic ending to the match. The battle for control of the score went to deuce with the advantage becoming a tug of war between the two. Three breaks went into play before another break point chance for Muguruza held together giving her the important 6-5 lead.
Muguruza made every position on court important to be at in rallies against Kuznetsova who was fighting to stay alive for one more chance. She went down 0-40 but began saving match points with Muguruza’s returns into the net. On a third attempt for match point, Muguruza played every point but the rally became too much, forcing deuce.
The forehand became the key to victory as she closed out the match with tough fighting on the fourth match point to end the 2 hour and 45-minute bout. “I fought so hard and we both played very well,” Muguruza said to Andrew Krasny after the match. “We always have such a great battle so I’m happy that I won this time.” “At the end, it was like two points difference and a little bit more aggressive but it was very tough.” She’ll await the winner of her semifinal match that will take place Saturday.
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