Garbine Muguruza battled back the muscle spasms and the competition to continue on at the Sydney International Wednesday. The 23 year old overcame some physical issues and went deep with Kiki Bertens to win in straight sets 6-3, 7-6(6) at Ken Rosewall Arena at Sydney Olympic Park. It was the first win for the Spaniard against the Dutch star and a good one to move her into the quarterfinals.
This was the fourth meeting between the two athletes and the first one to take place on the hard courts. The 26-year-old Dutch star dominated the world number three Spaniard way back in the past with each going straight sets for her. The situation was very much different now but a current scenario for Muguruza would be known as soon as she began the first game.
She pulled out during a match at Brisbane where cramps overwhelmed her in the legs and hands which resulted in her falling apart on her end. She would deal with the heat once more as the conditions were warmer than normal and a competitor that wanted to get a fourth consecutive win if her game allowed it.
Her Spanish opponent came out with two game wins before she managed a hold of some kind. Before play resumed, Muguruza went off court to be evaluated as she felt the muscles cramp up. It was a few minutes before she came back but the medical timeout seemed to work. After a few games had gone through, Bertens did get into contention but had to deal with a surging Muguruza who battled through the problems to succeed. Though it took 53 minutes, the 23-year-old got the job done beating the Dutch star 6-3 in the opening set.
The world number two was quickly up 2-0 in her attempt to run away with the set and finish the match fast. Bertens had other ideas as she battled through the games winning along the way. It led to a fight finish of 12 games that required the players to go to a tiebreak and figure it out there. The Spaniard had a big lead but the Dutch star started to come back on her own offense beating her opponent.
Bertens avoided two match points to even the score at six all in the tiebreak, making the situation tense while she dug in deep. A big push from the world number to win the next point gave her a lot of leverage to hold on and watch Bertens hit one long of the baseline bringing an end to the match in 1 hour and 48 minutes.
She and Bertens both had the winners high but the unforced errors trailed right behind throughout the 23 games. For Muguruza, those problems would have to be settled as she faces the winner between Australian’s Samantha Stosur and Daria Gavrilova on Thursday.
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