Two-time Grand Slam champion Garbine Muguruza enters this year’s Australian Open with fitness fears as she has struggled in Brisbane and Sydney. Nevertheless, Muguruza will be aiming to win her third Grand Slam singles title, and first on hard court.
The reigning Wimbledon champion is one of the favourites for the Australian Open title but she is drawn in a tough section of the draw which includes fellow multiple Grand Slam champions in Angelique Kerber and Maria Sharapova. She could face one of them in the fourth round, should all three of them get that far.
The Spaniard was asked how worried she was about her rough start to the year.
“It’s true, I would liked to have played more matches but you never really know how it’s going to start the year, I’ve only played two matches but I’ve felt that my tennis is good.”
The world number three revealed that she is not at 100% but the 24-year-old is training hard every day, and hoping to be pain free once her Australian Open campaign starts on Tuesday.
“It’s better, I’m training every day, I’m doing everything I can to be fully recovered, yeah hopefully I’m pain free, once the tournament starts.
“I wish to be more, but you always wish to be perfect before a Grand Slam but you’re never perfect, but I feel that I’m much better everyday.”
Muguruza reached her first hardcourt Grand Slam quarterfinal in Melbourne last year, when she lost to Coco Vandeweghe, and she was stunned to suffer from cramps in her opening match of the year with Aleksandra Krunic in Brisbane.
“I was very surprised, I said that before, I’m not a person who gets cramps, that day I was fully cramped I couldn’t move and I was a little bit shocked, but it’s very bad when you’re cramped it’s very bad.”
Despite not having plenty of matches under her belt as she would have liked, Muguruza is pleased to be competing at the Australian Open, and she has plenty of good memories at the first Grand Slam of the year.
“The feeling is excited because Grand Slams are the most important tournament, this is the happy Slam for a reason, of course I will be happier if I would come here playing more matches but that’s not going to put me down at all, and I’m looking forward to start, I have good memories from last year in general, and I always have good memories at the Australian Open.”
Muguruza begins her campaign against French wildcard Jessika Ponchet with a possible third round encounter with two-time semfinalist Agnieszka Radwanska over the horizon.
