Garbine Muguruza was in fine form under pressure at the National Bank Open Wednesday night. In her first match after 40 days, the Spaniard did work to stay ahead of Kaia Kanepi in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 on National Bank Grandstand.
The Spaniard met against the Estonian for the third time and second this season. It was at Roland Garros that the 37-year-old bested the former world number one in the opening round. Muguruza suffered further losses in the early rounds of Berlin, Eastbourne, and Wimbledon. Having not played since June 29th, the Spaniard faced a difficult position against the veteran, who got an early pass due to Naomi Osaka’s retirement Monday. After a solid run in Washington, where she made it to the final there, Kanepi was prepped for handling the eighth seed.
The 37-year-old started by watching Muguruza run through her service game before suffering a break from her end. The Spaniard backed it up for a 3-0 lead, in hopes that this wasn’t all that came on the day. Errors put her down 0-40 in the fourth, but she fought back to force deuce. Not wanting to drop another service, Kanepi gained the AD point and locked down the service with a game-winner.
Muguruza kept her own game in check and held the fifth before watching Kanepi gain comfort. Though she gave up two points, the Estonian held serve and broke the eighth seed with two breakpoint chances. The 37-year-old backed up the break with a strong response on serve that leveled the score at four-all. With all the ground lost, Muguruza made sure to regain the lead at the business end of the first and pressure Kanepi to hand it to her.
The tenth was a tug of war, but after five points played, Muguruza achieved set point for the break and captured the set in 51 minutes. The two played evenly with winners and unforced errors committed, but the second serve of the Estonian let her down in critical moments.
Wanting a better turnout, Kanepi pulled off a break to start the second set and backed it up with a break from the Spaniard. Muguruza held to love in the third but was suddenly shut out by Kanepi in the fourth. It set the bar for Muguruza to better her offense and proved so with a 3-2 lead from the service. Kanepi was following suit on holds of service when the two closed in on the end of the second set. Muguruza continued to hold serve in the ninth, leaving the Estonian to match or press on.
The 37-year-old felt the pressure as she fell behind on serve in the tenth, handing the win to the Spaniard, who earned the final break in 1 hour and 33 minutes. With a tough opponent out of her way, the 28-year-old could dig in for another battle, facing Belinda Bencic in the round of 16.
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