Garbine Muguruza kept her game and physical strains in check to win at the Australian Open Tuesday. The world number three fought hard to pull off a straight sets victory over wild card Jessika Ponchet 6-4, 6-3 on Margaret Court Arena at Melbourne Park.
After having had problems with her right thigh at Brisbane and Sydney, the Spaniard took the rest of the week off to prepare for important matches that would occur in biggest spotlights. She hadn’t faced Ponchet in the past but with the strain, it would no doubt be challenging for her to accomplish her everyday results against unranked opponents.
She got out front with a break but struggled in the second game losing her own service to the French 21 year old who was forced into deuce but held after two breaks. She consolidated it with a service hold in the third with Muguruza following suit. They stayed on course until Muguruza took the next three straight before Ponchet managed her second break win of the set. The tenth game was tight as they traded off points to slide into deuce with one another. Muguruza gave herself three chances for set point landing two aces in the process before capping the first set with a forehand winner ending 42 minutes of play.
With Ponchet experiencing the power of her strong opponent, she knew that more had to come from her offense. She opened things in the second with a game winner holding Muguruza to a single point. They got into a dead tie through four when the Spaniard began grasping her leg as her shoe got stuck in the court sending gasps through the crowd. She overcame in the fifth with a major battle where the two went six breaks with Ponchet double faulting at a critical moment that gave Muguruza the lead.
She wasted no time gaining ground on Ponchet and kept her eyes forward despite handing her another win. Muguruza ended the second set with two final victories that brought a sigh of relief to her fans and herself after 1 hour and 24 minutes. “It wasn’t easy,” Muguruza said of her opening match. “I didn’t know anything about her. She’s super talented. Serves and volleys, so I have to stay very concentrated.”
Concentration was just one of the keys to winning a slam and with the strains still bothering her, the third seed would need to keep things in check in her match Thursday against Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan.
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