19th seed Garbine Muguruza knows she has her work cut out as she embarks upon her seventh consecutive appearance at the French Open.
The 2016 champion kicked-off her Roland Garros campaign with a roller-coaster victory over Taylor Townsend. Prior to the grand slam, she has only managed to win two matches on the clay and has recently been hindered by injury. Meanwhile, her American opponent has the style of game which could cause her difficulty. Townsend won both singles and doubles titles at an ITF $100,000 in Charleston on the dirt earlier this month.
Despite the threat, an at times frustrated Muguruza overcame some inconsistency in her shot-making to prevail 5-7, 6-2, 6-2. Hitting 37 winners to 29 unforced errors and winning 72% of her first service points. The latest win is Muguruza’s 25th in the tournament. She has won more matches in Paris than at any other grand slam.
“I knew it was going to be a challenge no matter who my opponent was. We always know that the first rounds are difficult. It’s the first match of a Grand Slam, it’s a little adventure.” Muguruza said during her press conference.
During what was the first match to take place on the newly built Simona Mathieu Court, Muguruza failed to find her consistency throughout the opening set. Allowing Townsend to expose her vulnerabilities on the court. After trading breaks midway, the American managed to breakthrough whilst leading 6-5. As Muguruza serve to stay in contention, the 23-year-old pounce by racing to a 40-0 advantage. She then secured the 7-5 lead with the help of a near-perfect forehand winner down the line.
Since making her debut at Roland Garros back in 2013, Muguruza has never lost in the first round of the tournament. Determined to uphold that record, she battled back with a clinical two-set performance. Securing a double break in both frames, the 25-year-old increased the aggressiveness of her shot-making for force her opponent to make errors. In what was a dramatic change of momentum, Muguruza closed out the match by winning 12 out of 16 games played. Booking her place in the second round with the help of a delicate forehand drop shot winner.
“Playing Taylor, she had a different style of game, a very lefty player. Super talented. So it took me a while to feel better in the court, to get the rhythm, to to have a game plan.” Muguruza explained.
“It was a tough match. I’m happy to go through.”
Muguruza enters this year’s tournament in a somewhat different mindset to 12 months ago where she was the third seed. At 19th in the world, she is battling to stay within the world’s top 20. A position she has held continuously since June 2015. The only silver lining is that few are pinning their title hopes of her, which gives the Spaniard less expectation to live up to.
“I felt more at ease than last year, because I’m not really fighting for my title.” She said.
“But it’s not always easy to start a tournament. I try to go as far as possible. We always have a lot of pressure. But I don’t ask myself the question all the time. Sometimes in the past, I was focusing too much on these aspects that were putting pressure on me.”
With women’s tennis known for its unpredictability, it may be a bit unfair to dismiss Muguruza’s title chances completely. After all, she is a two-time grand slam champion and former world No.1.
“I think to win a Grand Slam you don’t only have to play beautiful and have great shots. It’s a combination of having the X factor, because everybody plays well, but only a few can win Grand Slams.” She explained.
“I think a very complete player, having the courage, having the consistency of winning many matches, dealing with the pressure of being in a Grand Slam and advancing. It’s a puzzle that you’ve got to put together, and it’s not easy.”
Muguruza reached the semi-finals of the French Open last year. She will play Sweden’s Johanna Larsson in the second round.
