This was the third time they met in WTA action with the series even since their 2016 season where they bested one another in three sets. Muguruza came off a defeat in the Doha final where Petra Kvitova silenced her dominant week of tennis. Despite a second consecutive loss to her in that final, Dubai welcomed her back for the seventh time. With a day of rest, the Spaniard hoped that all she did well in Doha would roll into the next week of competition. Despite her history against the Romanian, Muguruza looked to change that and be the one dictating the pace of the game.
She opened the match with a hold of serve, preventing Begu from forcing deuce on the next point. The Spaniard then took the Romanian for a break and consolidated a big 3-0 lead with a good service hold. Begu got into the set with a hold of the ninth seed before breaking back in the fifth to stay in touch. The 30-year-old backed up the break with a serve to love that got her even with Muguruza in the sixth, but only briefly.
The Spaniard went on to hold, upping her strength with a shutout of Begu in response. The window was open for Muguruza to go for the break, but Begu fought back to force deuce on serve. Though she extended her service game, the leverage stood with the ninth seed, who went on to take the game after two breaks. Muguruza went into the ninth swinging gracefully while Begu struggled to keep up with the pace. The ninth seed had two set points before she easily put it away in 36 minutes. Though she had 12 unforced errors, the six winners helped out but left her in a vulnerable position going forward.
Begu opened the second with a much-needed hold over Muguruza and topped that with a break of her in the second. Errors were responsible for the hole Muguruza found herself in, but she continued to put too much on the ball while returning in the rallies. In a need for accuracy, the Spaniard dug in, fighting back the errors to score on line drive winners that secured the break back.
The Romanian didn’t want to lose all her ground and forced deuce in the fourth trying to draw Muguruza to err. The ninth seed denied her that offer, controlling the forehand to get through two breaks of deuce and hold service. With the score even, Muguruza took the initiative when Begu made mistakes and built together breakpoints. The Romanian turned things around to force deuce, securing the lead back after two breaks.
Muguruza struggled with forehand errors, numbering 20 in the match, and the 30-year-old well aware. She worked the Spaniard to deuce to save breakpoint before playing two breaks that gave her a 4-3 stand. Muguruza dealt with more trouble than she wanted from her service, giving up a key break that put Begu on serve for the set. Muguruza pushed to get out front in the ninth, earning chances for the break. A forehand serve killed one of them, but she got lucky on a shot that hit the net and bounced into the Romanian’s end.
With her chance to level at five-all, the ninth seed fought the errors back during an important service game, winning on a stunning performance during the point rally before smashing it into Begu’s end. Good groundstrokes and ball placement helped the Spaniard in the 11th to break the Romanian getting into position to serve for the match. Despite committing an error on serve, Muguruza completed the comeback with a forehand winner down the line. It was a tight finish for the ninth seed who finished in 1 hour and 33 minutes but was happy to prevent a decider for Begu.
“It was a tough one because I arrived here yesterday and I needed a fighting spirit to deal with the circumstances from Doha to here,” said Muguruza after the match. “I just tried to adapt as fast as I can and bring the best I have today on the court.”
She’ll go into round two against American Amanda Anisimova, who she hasn’t played against. “I’ve seen her play,” she said. “I'm just looking forward to that match.”
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