Garbine Muguruza wins another off Aryna Sabalenka in Dubai quarterfinal

Garbine Muguruza was laser-focused during her quarterfinal match with Aryna Sabalenka at the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships. 

Garbine Muguruza managed her game well once again at the Dubai Duty-Free Championships Thursday. Showing super focus, playing well inside the court, and overcoming a first-set deficit, the Spaniard once again had Aryna Sabalenka beaten in three sets 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 on centre court at the Dubai Tennis Stadium. It was the second win against her opponent in a week as her intensity paid off to make the semifinals. 

This marked the third time and second in a week that the two met. Muguruza won in Doha, defeating the defending champion in a thrilling three-setter. With the series even at one match apiece, both players would fight it out not only to get a lead over the other but to continue on at the tournament. The Spaniard marked her 15th win yesterday, beating French Open champion Iga Swiatek in dominant fashion. With momentum picked up for the ninth seed, she would try to keep it high against the Belorussian while trying to prevent a long-drawn-out match. 

Sabalenka’s first mission was to hold serve against the former world number one, who had a tactic working against her. The 22-year-old trailed, but forced deuce and killed off a second breakpoint for Muguruza. Once that was taken care of, the third seed gained the AD point to close out the first. The Spaniard didn’t let that loss of a break bother her, scoring a serve to love from her end. Sabalenka held well from her end, giving the 27-year-old just one point from her service in the third. 

A key break for the Belorussian helped her back up the hold, gaining breakpoints that she defended. A serve to love increased the gap to 4-1, placing Muguruza way back off the pace. The ninth seed made sure to hold serve in the sixth, but she had a long way to go before thinking of a tie. Sabalenka stayed focused on service, opening a 40-0 run before giving up just two to win. 

Muguruza notched another in the eighth, giving up her serve to love chance to play on deuce. The Spaniard managed to prevent more chances for her opponent and locked it down on the first break. The Belorussian served for the set in the ninth but allowed points for the ninth seed. She managed to reach set point but blew it on a long return. 

On the first break, Sabalenka fired a crosscourt winner for a second attempt, scoring the AD point on a net-front smash to complete 35 minutes of play. The 22-year-old bested Muguruza on first serve percentage at 71 percent and nailed down more winners while making her 12 unforced errors ineffective. 

Going into the second, the Belorussian played a mix of offense and defense, scoring the break on Muguruza. The ninth seed had enough of Sabalenka dictating and broke back in response on the next game. The Spaniard backed it up with a service hold in the third and captured the double break in the following game. Muguruza continued her winning streak, backing up the double with another service hold for a 4-1 lead. 

Sabalenka had to work hard on serve in the sixth, but fighting off the errors upped the task at hand. She forced deuce to deny Muguruza a break chance and found a way to hold to cut the margin in half. The third seed struggled to get a footing during Muguruza’s service, coming up short for the chance to threat and saw the set coming to a close. She held to extend the set but when Muguruza served for the set and reached three set points to see Sabalenka hit it long ending the second in 33 minutes. The ninth seed’s momentum broke down the first serve of the Belorussian who finished the set at 59 percent with 13 errors made to Muguruza’s three. 

The 27-year-old rolled her success into the deciding set, breaking Sabalenka before dealing with a fight on her service in the second. They went to deuce where the 22-year-old caught a break on a long return from the Spaniard. With the AD point in her hands, she went on to break back leveling early. She consolidated the break by holding the third, snapping an ace down the T for the victory. 

Muguruza refused to give another break to the third seed, battling back a double fault and an error to hold the fourth. She went on to break Sabalenka in the fifth and consolidated that with a service hold in the next game. With a loss of much-needed ground, the Belorussian was in a situation where every game needed to be won from her end. She battled against a rough return game from Muguruza, erring at the wrong moment to sit down 2-5. The former world number one served for the match having kept Sabalenka back long enough to go for it on serve. 

Gaining three match points against the frustrated Belorussian was easy for Muguruza, who made her way into the semifinal as Sabalenka returned wide. It was a 1 hour and 51-minute victory for the 27-year-old, who had pulled off a huge task to continue on her way. With one match to play before the final, she would have to use the same tactics against Elise Mertens on Friday night.