Garbine Muguruza held off fierce competition at the Wuhan Open Tuesday night. The world number one had an issue with her left leg and a fight against Lesia Tsurenko but hung on to win 6-4, 6-4 on Centre Court at the Wuhan Optical Valley Tennis Centre.
The Ukrainian holds the only win against the Spaniard which came two years ago. Plenty has changed since then as Muguruza gained the number one spot and put up a fight in Tokyo last week. With a new tournament in play and plenty of rest, the 23 year old world number one was ready to bring it together and possibly walk away with another title while a month of action remained.
She stormed Tsurenko on serve in the second game after breaking her opening serve on deuce that lasted a short stalemate. She increased her lead to three games as her energy coming out of the gate was that of a steady focused athlete. It took a toll on Tsurenko as she racked up unforced errors in double digits after just 22 points scored. Despite the heavy adversity, the Ukrainian was able to get on the board with a hold of serve. The problem remained as she trailed the Spaniard who wanted to get back on track.
A solid break in the sixth helped her create a new stance that she found capable of handling against Muguruza in an attempt to make a comeback. Tsurenko’s hold in the seventh sat her a game out of tying the world number one having won 12 of the last 16 points. A different concern was bothering the 23 year old as she called for the trainer to come out and be evaluated. Muguruza had issues with her upper left leg that was tapped up before continuing with the set.
She served the eighth with the notion that she didn’t want to give her opponent any more momentum and shut her out of opportunities. On the first break of deuce, Muguruza dug out the victory to sit 5-3 with pressure back on Tsurenko to hold in the ninth. It was exactly what she pulled off that sent the message to the top seed that it would have to get done on her terms. The challenge was accepted as she made it a swift finish to the set that concluded in 49 minutes. Muguruza had a fine first serve percentage and had only six unforced errors in the span of ten games.
Coach Sam Sumyk came out to speak with Muguruza to analyze the opening set and keep his player focused and relaxed to keep her game rounded while fixing the small stuff. She came out with her strong serve in the second to match that of Tsurenko who had her chance to dictate but failed in the third. It was there that Muguruza broke the Ukrainian bringing the dominance back to the Spaniard.
It was short lived as Tsurenko struck back in the fifth to keep Muguruza in her sights but prior to resuming the set, she took a medical timeout that kept the world number one motionless. Sumyk came out to conference again to keep her eyes on the prize moving on. She increased her lead back to two games in the sixth with the leg giving her little trouble. The problem arrived when the 28 year old fought to keep hold of her serve which gave her more time and chances to make Muguruza fumble.
The Spaniard didn’t as her hold in the eighth put all the pressure on Tsurenko to hold her off or suffer a second round exit. Muguruza fought deep while critical errors cost her chances to lock down the game. On match point, the rally got quick with her able to send Muguruza all over forcing her to make an error and force deuce. After two breaks, the 28 year old held to get back within reach of forcing the world number one into a compromising situation.
She kept control of her nerves and emotions but the competition from Tsurenko made it difficult to close out the match. They went to deuce where on a third break, Muguruza put it away with a winner to bring an end to the fight that lasted 1 hour and 46 minutes. “I’ve been playing a lot and competing,” Muguruza said after the match. “Today was a very tough match and I know I have to be prepared so I’m used to having some kind of trouble but glad to be through to the third round.”
She’ll go into Thursday facing Magda Linette in the round of 16 in hopes that her body holds out on staying at the level off success.
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