- The Spanish wins 7-5 and 6-3 to the Russian in Melbourne
- It has a positive balance against Halep, which wins 3-2
Spain's Garbiñe Muguruza signed her first semifinals at the Australian Open after defeating Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-5 and 6-3, and will face Romanian and fourth favorite Simona Halep in the semifinals.
“I adapted to the circumstances, sometimes you don't feel quite right but you have to keep fighting. Very happy to have taken that first set,” he said after winning the victory.
Although his tennis did not shine as in the previous two rounds when he touched the excellence, Muguruza achieved a worked victory after defeating the veteran Pavlyuchenkova who ended up desperate for the solidity of the Spanish. Up to five breaks were in a first round in which both players started insecure and making numerous unforced errors.
The instability in the serve reigned during the first half of the crash and Muguruza, aware of the difficulty of the Russian to add with his service, gave the final blow in the last breath to be awarded a set by 7-5 that would end up being decisive.
They did not remedy their problems with the serve after the start of a second partial opened with an early break and counterbreak which set 1-1 on the scoreboard. From there, Muguruza had no mercy and was slowing his rival to seal, with a brilliant blank game to serve, the final 6-3.
His opponent in the semifinals will be the Romanian Simona Halep after overwhelming Estonian Anett Kontaveit by a forceful double 6-1 in less than an hour of play.
“Very motivated to be able to play my first semifinals here. I will study my opponent but I know her quite well for all the times we have faced each other,” said Muguruza.
The fourth series head has a negative balance against the Spanish after having fallen on three of the five occasions in which they met.