Coincidences of fate, the action of the WTA circuit continued its course in this 2021 in the same tournament where a year ago women's tennis was paralyzed because of the pandemic. The Doha WTA 500 hosted the debut of Garbiñe Muguruza, who suffered greatly in the Qatari capital to seal her victory over Veronika Kudermetova. Despite having two aces to get the victory in the second set, the leathery Russian prolonged suffering from Mugu until almost two hours of the game, with an agonizing tie-break as outcome: 6-2 and 7-6 (4).
The initial set was put in front of Garbiñe at the first change (despite not having the guide of Conchita in your technical area) when converting a break in the first game. But Kudermetova, a player with a more than interesting forehand when it comes to screwing the ball (which already led her to a final this season), did not give up a meter of the court, playing deep and making the Spanish uncomfortable at all times. The doubts came for Mugu in the fourth game as a result of a auction failed at will on the net, which remains a pending issue. Fortunately, Garbiñe recovered in time to close the game despite granting two break options. From that moment, the caraqueña breathed relieved until winning the set with three consecutive games, thanks in large part to the fact that his rival raised the rate of unforced errors.
The 6-2 of the light did not really show equality on the track, since except for a blank game that Garbiñe got, the others were tremendously contested. The script was kept in the second sleeve, so much so that the fourth game was a copy of the one in the first set: two break balls for Kudermetova, two wasted options. Saved the scare, Garbiñe did not forgive in the next game, as the greats do to make a break that seemed definitive. It was not like that and, despite having two services to sentence, Muguruza had to close the match in the tie-break. It was not the brightest day for the Spaniard, but Kudermetova contributed to the cause with her mistakes. The next stop for Mugu will be important, since it will be measured on Wednesday with a Aryna Sabalenka (8th in the WTA ranking) against which she lost in her only match. It's time to raise the level …
“It was a very tough opponent”
“Veronika was a very tough opponent. You have to always be very high in the ranking to avoid tough matches, but the truth is that I feel that right now all the players on the circuit are rivals to take into account,” said Garbiñe. “After Australia I went home to Switzerland and basically dedicated myself to reading, relaxing, recharging my batteries. Nothing very exciting. It was a very trying tour. Everything we had to go through …”he added. On his next rival, Sabalenka said it will be “a good match.” “I think we've only played once, a long time ago. He's doing very well, winning titles.”
“It has been a challenge. We know that with all the virus everywhere someone on the team can fall, but we have to adapt. We also try to laugh at all this and for now we are finding a way to get ahead, “he said about the positive in coronavirus of his coach, Conchita Martínez.