Garbine Muguruza threw in the towel suddenly at the China Open Monday night. The world number one had very little to show in the opening set against Barbora Strycova
who took it and won in a 6-1, 2-0 match that gave the Czech a spot in the second round. Muguruza’s retirement made her 4-3 as the top ranked player where her condition was well below what she felt was capable of her playing on
This was a sixth meeting between the two and the third this season alone with both winning each. The Spaniard held the overall lead over the Czech but the opportunity of tying the series was in Strycova’s hands going into the new tournament. Muguruza had a tough time in Wuhan with an apparent muscle strain while reaching the quarterfinal in Wuhan last week. Strycova went out earlier in her three set defeat by Jelena Ostapenko, but with more rest than the world number one, her chances to upset Muguruza were possible.
The Czech took the first two games holding off Muguruza who wasn’t yet up to speed. Each game saw her down two points which was enough room for Strycova to contain the victory for herself. The Spaniard managed to get one on her serve but it was back to business for Strycova who conducted a sizable lead with unforced errors racking up for the world number one. It was quickly a 4-1 rout which led to her chatting With Sam Sumyk to analyze what could be fixed to get her back into the set.
She still showed very little movement than what is normally seen of her indicating the swift pace Strycova carried. Muguruza’s attempts to stay alive in the set went awry as she handed the Czech triple set point by then smashing a shot into the net that finished in 27 minutes. While Strycova floated 11 of 13 on the first serve, the world number one under performed with just 5 of 17 and committed 16 unforced errors.
The second didn’t go any better for her as Strycova laid down a shot she didn’t put much interest returning. The next was a pop fly return back and a slow rally indicating very little effort or that something was bothering her. After a second win to Strycova the trainer was called on court for the number one seed in which she expressed her feeling very under the weather which brought an official end to the match and a pass for Strycova into the second round.
Strycova’s eight wins in the match led her to maintain enough energy to prepare for her second round where she’ll face Julia Goerges going forward.
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