Dubai: Muguruza Interview
An interview with Garbiñe Muguruza before her opening round match at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
An interview with Garbiñe Muguruza before her opening round match at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
An interview with Julia Goerges after her win in the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
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BRISBANE, Australia – Garbiñe Muguruza withstood a spirited comeback from Samantha Stosur to triumph in a thrilling opening-round encounter at the Brisbane International on Monday.
To the disappointment of a partisan crowd, Brisbane native Stosur was unable to prevent Muguruza winning, 7-5, 6-7(2), 7-5, in just under three hours.
Historically Stosur has struggled to produce her best tennis in Brisbane, winning only four matches in her six appearances. And under the roof of the Pat Rafter Arena she was in trouble early on, falling behind 0-30 and facing a break point at 2-2 only to bail herself out with a couple of heavy-duty deliveries.
.@GarbiMuguruza wins a brilliant point against @BamBamSam30 at @BrisbaneTennis – but the first set is still on serve. pic.twitter.com/NGM8C4s2O1
— WTA (@WTA) January 2, 2017
They stayed locked on serve until very last game of the set, when Stosur took advantage of a lapse from Muguruza to bring up three set points. But the Spaniard refused to crack under pressure, crushing a deep backhand deep to reach the safety of deuce. A flurry of errors from Stosur in the next give Muguruza the opening she needed to take the set.
Targeting the Stosur backhand, Muguruza twice broke at the start of the second. Each time the hometown favorite hit right back, going on to level in a one-sided tie-break. She carried this momentum into the decider, yet despite forging 4-2 ahead, the ghosts of past appearances came back to haunt her as the No.4 seed produced the more authoritative – and assured – tennis to take a place in the second round.
.@SvetlanaK27 starts 2017 with a big milestone! pic.twitter.com/Fvzzcg8xD8
— WTA (@WTA) January 2, 2017
There she will face Daria Kasatkina. Should she come through that test, another russian, No.5 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, is her likely quarterfinal foe. Kuznetsova enjoyed a more straightforward start to 2017, registering her 600th career win by easing past Louisa Chirico, 6-2, 6-4.
Also advancing was No.8 seed Roberta Vinci, after she dig deep to see off lucky loser Kateryna Bondarenko, 7-6(4), 6-7(4), 7-6(5).
DUBAI, UAE – World No.47 Barbora Strycova employed her brand of unpredictable tennis to power past Caroline Garcia, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, and reach her sixth career WTA final at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
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She was up against a very familiar opponent in the day’s second semifinal: Strycova and Garcia have played each other four times, with Strycova winning their last three matches in straight sets, including a first-round encounter earlier this year at the Australian Open.
The players started out this encounter very evenly-matched – and they stayed that way for most of the match.
Garcia played her trademark aggressive all-court game, sending Strycova on the defensive early on until the Czech grabbed the first break of the match at 3-2. Garcia used all of her weapons – even throwing in some serving and volleying – but Strycova’s unpredictable style was just too full of surprises, a two-handed backhand slice drop shot throwing Garcia completely off kilter and bringing up the break.
Strycova went on to win the next five games to take the opening set at 6-2 and go up 2-0 in the second.
Not to be outdone, the Frenchwoman held her nerve – and came up with some incredible service games – to win six of the next seven games to take the set 6-3 to level the match.
In the final set, the two were toe-to-toe, neither woman giving an inch: when Garcia broke to start the match, Strycova broke her right back; when Garcia held her serve at love, Strycova held serve at love in reply. They stayed deadlocked until Strycova finally broke for 5-3 – Garcia saved two break points to bring it to deuce, but after a 22-shot-rally Strycova emerged victorious. Serving for the match, Strycova erased both of Garcia’s break opportunities and sealed the match with an ace.
“I kept telling myself play your game and go for it – you have nothing to lose,” Strycova said after the match. “I wasn’t serving well the whole match but in that last game it was important that I pull it through.”
“That last game I was like, ‘Okay, pull something through. And then I made good serves. I’m so happy about it because it wasn’t easy match for me. But to be in the final it’s great.
Awaiting Strycova in the final is 2013 Dubai finalist Sara Errani, winner of the day’s first semifinal against Elina Svitolina. Errani leads their head-to-head record 5-1.
“We always have tough matches with Sara,” Strycova said of her opponent in the final. “Last time I lost from two match points.
“But it’s a final so I will enjoy it. Or I’ll try to enjoy it, actually.”
Go inside the Auckland Player Party with Venus Williams, Caroline Wozniacki, Lucie Safarova and more WTA stars at the ASB Classic.
Barbora Strycova takes on Ana Ivanovic in the quarterfinals at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Serena Williams’ press conference after her first round victory at the ASB Classic in Auckland.