Garbine Muguruza had another hard night at the Wuhan Open but came out victorious in the third round. Magda Linette put on a great fight for three long sets that included a near bagel against the number one but ended in a 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 win for the Spaniard on Centre Court at the Wuhan Optical Valley Tennis Centre.
The world number one had some issues come up with her left leg but kept the match in straight sets against Lesya Tsurenko Tuesday evening. The 23-year-old completed his first match since Tokyo and wanted nothing better than to increase her points margin in the WTA rankings. Although both have competed against one another, the players haven’t dropped a set meaning that one would assuredly have the chance to stay that way.
Muguruza took off after they both held serve in the opening set getting the two-game edge on her Polish adversary. Linette reached deep on her next service game and locked down a win that kept her within reach of the world number one. Muguruza held her own pace locking down another service hold before getting back to breaking Linette for another step ahead on the score.
On serve for the set, the top seed pressured Linette into running all over for the ball getting the set in the books after 32 minutes. Muguruza dropped just three points on all her serves giving the notion of her well-rounded service game that sat in the mid 80s with ten winners and three unforced errors.
In her attempts to break Linette, the Spaniard put too much emphasis on a smash that fell long of the baseline allowing her opponent to secure the service game. She nearly consolidated the victory with a break of Muguruza but errors helped get the Spaniard back in for a chance to hang on with the ball in possession. She got to deuce but couldn’t do much after the break which handed Linette her first lead of the match.
The margin became a size of comfort for her as she gained three games on Muguruza who racked up the unforced errors significantly. Two more were brought into Linette’s score as she cruised while the world number one had all sorts of trouble. Though she avoided the bagel in the sixth, the Spaniard accepted throwing out the chance to fight back in the set and give it her all in the decider. It took Linette 32 minutes to get one of her best performances against a number one player but she was not out of the woods yet for victory.
The third saw Muguruza wake her game up, shaking off the problems before gaining a hold of some kind. She gained a break along the way that helped her regain control of a lead and remain that way after six games had elapsed. Linette got a break on the Spaniard in the seventh that reeled her opponent in close with the match very close so its conclusion. Muguruza made her pay for the break as she added one herself to sit up 5-3 with a chance to serve for the match.
Just when it looked as if she would get it done, the errors rushed back in time to save Linette. Muguruza either hit the ball long or returned it wide before setting up a double fault that gave the Polish player light at the end of the tunnel. It was just another break in favor of the world number 83 to get her serve on lock and deliver the pressure to Muguruza instead. She was well into it fighting back hard to prevent the set going any longer as it surpassed the two-hour mark. The world number one reached deuce on her serve and got the victory done in what was clearly a tough match.
“I knew it was going to be a tough match,” Muguruza said. “She had a very good moment in the second set but that didn’t disturb me to keep going.” She’ll take on reigning French Open champ Jelena Ostapenko Thursday night in a third meeting. “It’s gonna be difficult playing her,” she added. “She’s very good, young and motivated but I’m gonna give everything I have to battle.”
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