The year 2022 has been by numbers the worst in the career of Garbiñe Muguruza. Not only because of the results but because of how unexpected she has been, because let’s remember that last season the Spanish tennis player finished her season with the title of the WTA Finals under the arm. A victory that made many fans think that the Spanish would fight to win Grand Slams this year.
Nothing is further from reality, Muguruza has disappointed. The tennis player born in Caracas has not found her game at any time of the season and her results perfectly reflect what her year has been, 12 wins and 17 losses. To put this in context, we can look at what she did in previous campaigns and that is, without going any further, in 2021 she had the same losses, but she had 42 wins.
In fact, the only year that Garbiñe had had a negative background was in 2008, there the Spanish was 15 years old and was taking her first steps in the ITF tournaments, so it could really be said that this is the first season in the that Muguruza ends up with more losses than wins. However, despite having signed such a year, the Spanish will finish the course close to the first 50 so he’ll be able to jump right into the draw in most tournaments and he’ll also be in a good position to climb a lot of the ranks once he puts together a couple of big performances. Therefore, within the bad you can also get some positive things.
HE DESERVED SOMETHING MORE
If we look at Muguruza’s season tournament by tournament, the truth is that at times tennis has not been fair to her, especially at the end of the season. Since the North American tour began, the Spaniard has not had any luck in the draws and despite the fact that his game has improved in recent months, the truth is that Mugu has not been able to transform it into good results. Above all, the third round of the US Open against Petra Kvitova stands out, where Garbiñe pulled out to take the duel and she also had two match points to the rest, but not even with those did she manage to win. That meeting could have meant a change of script in the season, because we all know that when Muguruza reaches the second week of a Grand Slam, she must always be taken into account.
However, this seemed to be destined to be a black year in Garbiñe’s career, since the bad game was joined in the final stretch of the season by stomach problems that have deprived the winner of two Grand Slam titles to be able to compete 100% and finish the course with good feelings to face 2023 with more confidence.
WITH HOPE FOR THE FUTURE
Although things have not gone well for the interests of the Spanish in this 2022, the truth is that Muguruza has always found a way to return when nobody expects her and if there is something that is undeniable it is that if Garbiñe is at a good level there are few players capable of overshadowing her. In addition, now that she is out of the top fifty, the Spaniard will arrive at the tournaments with little pressure and being a tennis player who will want to avoid all the seeds, so even if she has to face tougher rivals in the first rounds, this will be a Double-edged sword, since in case of defeating them, they will reach the final rounds with much more motivation.
Muguruza, who is currently just 28 years old, still has several more tennis seasons ahead of her and very likely this bad year will serve her in the future to face each tournament with greater maturity and it is a matter of time before her tennis reappears . Therefore, although it seems hard to believe now, the logical thing is that Garbiñe will once again have the opportunity to lift a Grand Slam again, because she is still a feared rival and as soon as things go well for her in a couple of games, she gains a confidence that makes her unstoppable.
