Garbine Muguruza avoids long day on court holding Kudermetova in straight sets

Garbine Muguruza swings big to come through the opening round of the Qatar Total Open Monday. 

Garbine Muguruza had a comfortable start to the Qatar Total Open but had to fight hard for it Monday. Veronika Kudermetova stayed with the Spaniard in the second set, forcing a tiebreak but fell short in a 6-2, 7-6(4) score on center court at the Khalifa International Tennis Centre. 

The two met in Dubai last year where Muguruza edged the Russian in three sets. Kudermetova showed her opponent that her attacks took effect and would stay with the Spaniard for their next meeting. Both had similar outcomes at the Australian Open losing in three sets prior to the second week. The former world number one chose to take a break to regroup her game for her sixth appearance in Qatar. Kudermetova hoped that her early exit from Adelaide last week would not repeat and give Muguruza a run for her money. 

The first game was a challenge for Kudermetova, who gave Muguruza an edge while serving. She recovered to earn a game point, but the Spaniard refused to let her get away easy. Muguruza forced deuce and held the first AD point, earning the break. She consolidated it in the second to take the lead. The Russian pulled off a successful service to love and soon forced the Spaniard into a corner on serve in the fourth. Kudermetova brought up a breakpoint chance but watched Muguruza force deuce. She gave herself one more opportunity, yet as soon as that was gone, the 27-year-old held. 

The two remained on serve through the next pair of games until a break for the former world number one put her in place to go for the set. She built together with a 0-40 lead in the seventh but had trouble closing it out. Kudermetova forced deuce but couldn’t gain the AD point on serve. Knowing that she let the Russian back into games twice, Muguruza wasted no time in the eighth, scoring a serve to love that closed the first in 38 minutes. There were more unforced errors than winners from Muguruza but her 72 percent first serve did the job to stand ahead. 

Kudermetova took the honor once again to serve open the second set, scoring her second shutout of the Spaniard. Muguruza followed suit with a hold in the second but trailed when Kudermetova increased the success from both sides of her game. In the fourth, the 23-year-old wanted to make that clear to Muguruza in the shape of a break, but errors began creeping into her game. Muguruza got out of a jam on deuce that leveled the score, and soon took the lead with a break of Kudermetova in the fifth. 

Muguruza backed up the break with a hold to love in the following game, striding closer to the result of a straight-set. The Spaniard responded on every point but made too many errors that put the Russian back within reach after seven games. Muguruza pressed Kudermetova to make the decision on her returns that brought up a window to get through her service but instead took them to deuce. 

Kudermetova showed perseverance with good court placement and response to her opponent, but one bad error took the air out of her break chance, handing Muguruza the 5-3 lead. The Russian didn’t want to let the 27-year-old anywhere in her service game earning a third serve to love. Muguruza earned the chance to serve for the match but fell behind in the ninth. Errors into the net and low ball lobs from Kudermetova brought up a five-all situation. 

Kudermetova committed to a second double fault on serve in the 11th that gave Muguruza leverage and depth on the ball. She almost saw the Russian force deuce, but a slicer landed into the tramlines, giving the Spaniard another opportunity to close it out on serve. Muguruza trailed Kudermetova in the 12th but slowly made her way back with good court placement. In a fight to force deuce, the Spaniard played every point but came up short when the Russian got crosscourt inside the line, forcing the players to a tiebreak. 

Kudermetova took a huge 3-0 lead, with Muguruza struggling to get one to nail down. She then took the next three points fighting to gain some momentum in the late stages of the set. A well-placed lob gave the Russian the lead back, but the 27-year-old answered with a drive that painted the line. She moved Kudermetova around during the ninth point, setting up the smash for the edge. Matchpoint was achieved on an error into the net from Kudermetova who saw her tournament end on one last error to complete 1 hour and 48 minutes on court. 

“I was expecting a very tough match,” Muguruza said after her match on court. “We played exactly one year ago and I remember that it was a great battle.” While she managed to avoid playing another three-setter, she’ll need a lot more when she faces 2020 champion Aryna Sabalenka on Wednesday.