Garbine Muguruza holds together in straight sets against Sasnovich

Garbine Muguruza waits to hit the forehand return in her second-round match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich on Saturday. 

Garbine Muguruza had a great day on court with a strong first serve percentage at the Abu Dhabi Women’s Tennis Open Saturday. The former world number one had things dialed in against Aliaksandra Sasnovich, who produced too many errors in a 6-1, 6-4 loss on centre court.

Both met for the first time having had great results in their opening round match in Abu Dhabi to begin the season. Though Sasnovich took care of a lower-ranked opponent, Muguruza managed to take down Kristina Mladenovic, who is not an easy player to face in a season opener. With another one in her way, the Belorussian and her doubles experience would come in hand to counteract the Spaniard. With the 27-year-old recording many unforced errors, she would have to limit them and dictate against Sasnovich who can be a major problem if let go of. 

The match opened with Sasnovich having issues with the service giving Muguruza the early lead with breakpoints. She took the first as the Belorussian double-faulted on the last point on serve giving Muguruza the break. When it looked as if the Spaniard would take control, she found herself struggling for a moment, giving Sasnovich a break back. There was yet another break of serve in the third giving Muguruza the lead. 

The fifth seed had things under control by the fourth where she put together a hold of serve. Breaking the Belorussian added to her dictation by controlling the point and winning 90 percent of second serve returns. She went up 5-1 on Sasnovich, setting up her chance to play for the set. A chance in the seventh for Muguruza soured on a net-front shot that dropped wide, bringing Sasnovich to deuce. It didn’t take her long to attain set point on the second break, which came on a wide return from the Belorussian ending the first in 33 minutes. 

With the need to improve her offense, Sasnovich came into the second set, making some shots difficult for Muguruza to return. Her final strike came with a low ball return to the Spaniard, who couldn’t get it back over, earning the break. For the fifth time in the match, Sasnovich had trouble containing her serve against the Spaniard, who made sure that she couldn’t in the second game. With two breaks in the set, Muguruza upped the ante with a secure hold of serve in the third.  

On her second try of the set and sixth of the match, the Belorussian had some help from a delay due to a cat on the court that allowed her to finish the service and hold Muguruza back. Sasnovich added a break to consolidate, but holding her own wasn’t in the cards. Muguruza found a weak spot from her opponent to take advantage of the moment and level back at three-all. She regained the lead, forcing errors from the Belorussian that held her serve. 

Muguruza bided her time as Sasnovich had another service hold under her belt but trailed with the fifth leading 5-4. Serving to extend the match, the 26-year-old overcooked some of her shots that brought up match point for the fifth seed. It was a five-shot rally that saw another one from Sasnovich go into the net ending 1 hour and 17 minutes. 

With a better performance on day two of singles play, she’ll see her next opponent in either Maria Sakkari or American Cori Gauff.