Will Muguruza find her form at the Australian Open?

By Jayita Belcourt
In just over 20 minutes during her semi-finals matchup against world no. 41 Alize Cornet at the Brisbane International, world no.7 Gabe Muguruza was forcibly stopped in her tracks. Trailing 1-4 in the first set, the Spaniard moved sluggishly around the court and lacked accuracy making thirteen unforced errors to Cornet’s five before retiring from the match.
Having spent more than eight hours on court to defeat Australian Sam Stosur, Russian Daria Kasatkina and world no.9 Svetlana Kuznetsova en-route to the semi-finals, it was evident her series of tough matches in the first week of 2017 had come at a cost. Citing an abductor injury and fatigue for calling it quits, the fourth seed remains optimistic about the Australian Open later this month.
“I went out there, I tried, but, you know, Cornet was playing good. I couldn’t match her level today. I had some pains, and I thought it was more, you know, smart to take care of my body, especially being the first week of the year,” Muguruza explained.
“It will not stop me [to play Australian Open]. I just felt, like, a little bit exhausted on the court, and I have been dealing, you know, with tiredness and issues with all these hard matches I have been playing, and today I was far from 100%.”
Unfortunately for the Spaniard, feeling less than ideal is not an isolated case. After crushing Serena Williams 7-5, 6-4 to clinch her first Grand Slam Title at the French Open in May 2016, Muguruza has looked a shadow of her stellar self for some time. Since her monumental win, it has been followed by a string of second-round losses at Wimbledon and the US Open. In deep reflection, the 23 year acknowledges that winning a grand-slam doesn’t guarantee anything.
“It [winning a grand-slam] brings confidence,” Muguruza affirmed. “When I think about it, I’m like, I can play her [a player] good, and it helps me to have it in the back of my mind.”
“But it’s not magical.” She then goes on to reveal that her “confidence is on and off sometimes”.
Faltering confidence and the one-time grand slam ‘curse’ seems to have plagued a number of top players including Australian’s own Sam Stosur. Since her epic win in the US Open back in 2011, also against Serena Williams, Stosur has struggled to find form. Ironically, her best result since then was her semi-final matchup against Muguruza in the French Open last year. Former number one, Ana Ivanovic, could also not escape the ‘curse’, and recently announced her retirement with lackluster performances after earning a career solo grand slam title at the French Open aged 20.
So will Muguruza go deep at majors again? Can she break-through in 2017 to claim another title or will she be caught in the dark chambers of those unable to yield any success after winning a major?
Based on her performance here in Brisbane, it looks like she is still fighting her own internal demons. Starkly critical of herself and persistently wondering if she can actually win matches, Muguruza said “when you come after the pre-season, you kind of doubt a little bit. You’re like, how it’s gonna go.”
“I was like, doubting, it’s the first of the year, and see how I feel or something. It’s like a test.”
Tests aside, clearly the mental side of tennis is of significance. But just how important is the mental side and confidence to a player? Especially when it comes to winning big tournaments?
According to tennis legend Martin Navratilova confidence is important, but not everything.
“There’s no percentage here and there [as to what is most important]”. “To be a champion you have to have it all – physically, emotionally and mentally,” Navratilova said in Melbourne a number of years ago.
How then, is the Spaniard faring as we enter into uncharted territory in 2017? Is she where she wants to be – both physically, emotionally and mentally? In her interview following her exit at Brisbane, Muguruza confirms her content where she’s at and remains optimistic looking ahead.
“I’m also very happy the way I played the three matches before. I’m going to take that, for sure,” the 23 year old said. “I think all of the matches I played here were amazing.”
“I’m happy the way I’m moving, I’m running, hitting the ball, etc. So I’m going to take with that and that I feel good, in general, with my tennis.” As for her greatest learning she considers it to be “fighting until the last moment” and “having the right attitude, even though sometimes you feel the match not sure if it’s going to go your way or not.”
So yes, despite her string of lack-luster performances since the French Open, there is no doubt Muguruza has unbelievable talent and has the potential to win more slams in the future, as evidenced by her string of hard fought wins in Brisbane. The only question is can she pull it all together when it counts?
I believe if she can consistently maintain a fighting spirit and learn to master an unwavering self-belief along the likes of “Queen Serena” and “never say die Djokovic”, her future looks stunningly bright. But this however, is no easy task.
We will soon learn how she is really faring, when the first grand slam of the year, the Australian Open, starts Jan 16.

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