Garbine Muguruza made quick work of her opening match at the Yarra Valley Classic Tuesday night. The Spaniard rocked Alison Van Uytvanck to sleep in just under an hour winning 6-2, 6-0 on 1573 Arena at Melbourne Park.
This marked their fourth meeting and the first in three years for the two. The Belgian earned the last win at Wuhan, evening their meetings on hard courts. Van Uytvanck hadn’t played this season since the French Open due to her engagement during the holidays last year. Muguruza played three matches in Abu Dhabi, preparing herself to be at the ready in Australia. With her first one coming against Van Uytvanck, the Spaniard had be ready quickly against the Belgian.
Both played through three service games, with some errors from either player. By the fourth, Van Uytvanck made a critical double fault that opened the door for Muguruza to barge in. She counteracted the Belgian on serve to earn the first break and a 3-1 lead. The sixth seed returned to service in the fifth, taking the reins of the set to win the next three straight. At 5-2 and Van Uytvanck under pressure, the Spaniard rushed her during the rallies to close out the set in 26 minutes. Muguruza had seven winners and only two unforced errors, producing the exact results she wanted Van Uytvanck to witness.
The screw turned tighter for Muguruza, who opened the second set with a service hold. Errors rattled the Belgian to hand the break to the sixth seed, who answered with terrific ball strikes to lead 3-0. Van Uytvanck battled on serve in the fourth but made some slip-ups that resulted in going to deuce. Under pressure, the Belgian double-faulted, handing the double break to Muguruza.
Van Uytvanck tried desperately to change the tide of control in the fifth, but her efforts were silenced by the Spaniard who eyed the match. The Belgian served to stay alive but faced big statements from Muguruza who earned three match points. It was all said and done in a lightning-fast 49 minutes with Van Uytvanck hitting a return wide.
With the winners and limited unforced errors doing the trick for the sixth seed, she would go into the round of 32 facing tennis veteran Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
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