MADRID, 21 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish tennis player Garbiñe Muguruza ended her career after a notorious decade that returned Spanish women’s tennis to the top, to levels that had not even been reached, with the hope of one day being able to look beyond the courts, taking advantage of the opportunities for your success, and recover the time invested.
Muguruza, born in Caracas on October 8, 1993, was a cyclone in the women’s circuit that swept and left with the same roar. The Spanish-Venezuelan trained in Barcelona and had a meteoric career, with a lot of quality and aggressiveness in her game, with a great competitive desire and hunger for titles, which gave her the options and motivation to fight for the top.
Garbiñe proved to herself that she was capable of being the best and she did so on more than one occasion, also rising from bad times to glorious heights. After more than a year without stepping on the slopes, her farewell was awaiting an official announcement that arrived on Saturday in Madrid, under the debate of how far she could have gone.
This was his career, like that of any other star, under the scrutiny of the fan/coach within each person, who whether it was irregular or did not give his all. However, ‘Mugu’ took the reins in her own way and achieved a track record as a legend of tennis and, specifically, of Spanish sport, with a collection of great successes that include two ‘Grand Slams’ and the title of Master of Tennis. the WTA.
Garbiñe started strong and quickly reached the top, something that dwarfs anything other than one victory after another. In her debut on the WTA circuit in 2012 she impressed in Miami by eliminating two seeds to reach the round of 16, later hampered by ankle surgery that set her back in 2013.
However, the young ‘Garbi’ was still clear about it and in 2014 she won her first title in the Hobart tournament, later reaching the quarterfinals of Roland Garros, where she achieved her first of the four victories she won against Serena Williams. She did not stop taking steps forward and, in 2015, the Spanish-Venezuelan reached the final of Wimbledon, where she collided with the American.
In 2016, already as ‘Top 5’ in the world, Muguruza conquered her first ‘Grand Slam’ by winning Roland Garros with revenge over Serena, the first Spaniard to win a ‘major’ since Arantxa Sánchez Vicario’s triumph in Paris in 1998. Women’s tennis in Spain once again had a mirror at the top, which in 2017 emulated its coach Conchita Martínez by also winning Wimbledon.
However, for the Caracas team then a complicated stage began with injuries and early eliminations. A lonely loop in the world of tennis, with the loud and gradual fall after occupying world number one in September 2017. Two tough seasons, ending her professional relationship with her coach Sam Sumyk, which even led her to try even more so their capacity for suffering on the highest mountain in Africa.
The champion of two ‘greats’ climbed Kilimanjaro and came down with a different perspective, after thinking she would freeze to death. In January 2020, against all odds and without being seeded, Muguruza reached the final of the Australian Open and, although she was left with honey on her lips, she once again showed that she was capable of anything.
Despite the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic, the former world number one had a remarkable season after Melbourne and in 2021 she continued her recovery in the ranking until closing the year as world number three. Muguruza won three titles that year with the closing of the WTA Finals in Guadalajara (Mexico), achieving the first ‘master’ title for Spanish women’s tennis.
It was the tenth success of her career, which means she is the best among the best on the circuit. With a racket in her hand since she was three years old, with almost professional training since she was 10, Garbiñe’s body and mind began to notice that she had had enough, attracted by life beyond tennis, seen up close throughout everything. this time but without being able to taste it.
The one from Caracas endured the descent into hell before gathering the courage to end a legendary career. 2022 was the worst year of his career and with a similar start to 2023, Muguruza took a break from which he did not return. He lacked success at home, in Madrid, or in New York, in addition to with Spain in the Federation Cup or as an Olympian in the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Games.
Her aggressiveness on the court, a 1.82 tall puncher, and her ability to come out on top on big stages marked the path of a modern Conchita or Arantxa for Spanish tennis, a reference for Paula Badosa, who became number two in the world, and the new generations, Carla Suárez’s partner in a great doubles. Garbiñe more than fulfilled her dream, and that of many.