Garbiñe Muguruza animated the WTA circuit for a long time in her career. Among other great things, she won three of the biggest tennis titles: Roland Garros (in 2016), Wimbledon (2017) and the WTA Finals in Guadalajara (2021). That tournament that established her as a Master was the last sample of her great tennis. Since then, almost everything has been an ordeal.
For now, in the current Australian Open, she said goodbye in the first round against Elise Mertens (32nd) with partials of 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1. The particularity is that the former No. 1 in the world, today 73rd in the world list, sacó for match in the second set (6-5). However, she could not close it and the distrust that it entails affected her both physically and tennis-wise in the third quarter.
Despite her bad experience, the two-time Grand Slam champion had been positive in the run-up to the tournament: “Sometimes being the favorite doesn’t help because a lot of people expect a lot from you and you have that pressure. I don’t think I’m a candidate but I have a lot of options to keep moving forward.” explained the one born in Venezuela, which will drop out of the Top 80 and hit its worst ranking since May 2013.
That low position for what he is used to is not, of course, the result of a short losing streak. But it is something that the Spanish has been fighting for a long time. He finished 2021 in the Top 3 and with the title in Guadalajara, but in 2022 he reached the quarterfinals only three times in the entire season (12-17 record). In the present 2023 there are already three defeats in a row, without wins.
