The East sounds like home – AS.com

One resides in Dubai and the other was champion there in 2021. The East sounds like home for Paula Badosa and Garbiñe Muguruza, who are making their debut today at the WTA 500 in Abu Dhabi, the start of their tour of the Emirates. Both arrive in need of joy and both feel comfortable competing in the territory. the catalan, after missing the Australian Open due to injury, opens before Liudmila Samsonova (around 1:30 p.m.), a 24-year-old Russian and 19th in the ranking; the Spanish-Caracas, without winning yet in 2023, against Karolina Pliskova (not before 4:00 p.m.), Czech 30 and 20th. Two difficult rivals to regain confidence and start over. “I have had many moments in my career in which I have been on top and others in which I have not been so much. Getting back up is a process. Now, I am focusing on training hard and being humble”, Muguruza declared. in the local environment The National. With a low profile to return to the top.

There is no other way. Both Samosova and Pliskova have a better ranking than the Spanish tennis players, something unthinkable a year ago, when both were settled in the top-10 and were competing for the world throne. Badosa (21st), after astonishing the world in Indian Wells and adding his third title in Sydney, presented a candidacy for his first Grand Slam; Muguruza (83rd), after proclaiming herself a teacher with her first WTA Finals, showed that she had the rope to continue pursuing her third major. A short time later, everything is left behind. A scenario with two readings, one very negative and the other cautiously positive: tennis, especially on the women’s circuit, changes very quickly. “In this sport, one week can go wrong, then the next week can go right, and suddenly everything changes again. I think the experience helps me stay calm in the not so good moments, when I haven’t been playing as well or the results haven’t come. The career of athletes is a roller coaster”, Muguruza metaphorizes.

His case is the more extreme of the two. In 2022, despite reaching the world podium, he only won 12 games; This year, it has not yet been released. At the WTA 250 in Lyon, one of those minor tournaments that have returned to her calendar, she added her sixth loss in a row, her 22nd overall since she became a master (12-21 record). Badosa’s case is different. In the short term, more hopeful. It was before her right thigh injury kept her from the oceanic Grand Slam, to which she was thrown. Without going any further, numerically, Paula’s situation is radically opposite to that of Garbiñe: in 2023, she still hasn’t known defeat, with four wins before retiring in Adelaidewhere he was going to play the semifinals.

A way to re(find)

If he surpasses the debut, Badosa, who also plans to play in the WTA 500 in Doha and the WTA 1,000 in Dubai, could cross paths with Barbora Krejcikova (30th), Veronika Kudermetova (11th) and Daria Kasatkina (8th), who is the first seed. In Adelaide, the Catalan once again felt powerful and, with play, ratified what she had said after closing a course of contradictory emotions. “My 2022 season is over… a year that has gone through all the moments. Where I have lived from the best experiences to the worst. But where have I tried to learn from each one of them and above all come out stronger, ”she reflected. Muguruza, on the other hand, should they advance, they will face the recent runner-up in Australia, Elena Rybakina (10th). Then, by ranking, she could face Beatriz Haddad Maia (14th) and Belinda Bencic (9th). The path to meet… and meet again.