Muguruza is injured and abandons in Charleston against Putintseva

After 27 games played in 2021 (Last year he only played 30), with a number of wins that he had never accumulated in the rest of his seasons at this point in the calendar, Garbiñe Muguruza's physicist said 'enough'. The Spanish-Venezuelan was forced to retire in her second game of the Charleston WTA 500 due to an injury to his left leg when he dominated the scoreboard with clear authority against the Kazakh Yulia Putintseva: 6-0 and 2-2 in 61 minutes. Only that stroke of misfortune ended the aspirations of Mugu in this beginning of tour on clay, and we will see if the extent of the injury compromises his presence in tournaments such as Mutua Madrid Open (April 27 to May 9) or Roland Garros (May 30 to June 13).

Under the watchful eye of Conchita Martínez, who was returning to the technical zone after some tournaments of absence due to COVID-19, Garbiñe started the game like a cyclone. He did not give any option to a Putintseva who was overwhelmed at all times by the aggressiveness of the Spanish-Venezuelan, who dressed with tremendous precision from the back of the track. If to that we add forcefulness in the volleys, a facet in which Mugu continues to improve at a good pace, the recipe gave a donut (6-0) in just 27 minutes.

Unexpected twist

The Kazakh, who in the first set slammed her racket against the clay several times, stopped the bleeding after the seventh consecutive game won by Garbiñe in the match, which put the tables in the opening leg of the second heat: 1-1. In addition, Putintseva hit the key to hurt the Spanish, both in the game and physically, thanks to a succession of left-overs that caused Garbiñe to request medical time. In those aggressive sprints towards the net, the Caracas player suffered muscle discomfort that forced him to go through the changing rooms. It was the beginning of the end. After about ten minutes of break, Mugu returned to the track with renewed energy to return a break, but his left leg could not hold any more on a new climb to the net where the Hispanic-Venezuelan, aware that she should not compromise her physique in the face of more important scenarios, decided to leave. It only remains to cross your fingers to see her soon on the slopes …

Muguruza: “My leg already hurt in the first game”

After leaving the US tournament due to those pains in his left leg, Garbiñe analyzed what happened on the court for the organization of the tournament: “I already felt pain in my first match here. The change from hard court to dirt is difficult in a short period of time . I started playing very good tennis, I felt a very strong puncture in my leg and before it got worse I decided to stop. After seeing the physios I could have fought longer, but it would have been worse. It made no sense to me to continue. Now it's time to take a look to see how my body is. Taking a break will be key to continue the plan for the remainder of the clay court tour. “

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