Muguruza meets aggression with aggression to take down Sabalenka and advance into the Dubai Semi Final.
Garbine Muguruza describes how she planned her game to beat an over-aggressive Aryna Sabalenka in Dubai.
Garbine Muguruza is having a great week in Dubai and has reached the semifinal after beating Aryna Sabalenka for the 2nd consecutive week 3-6 6-3 6-2. Muguruza ranked #16 will now face Elise Mertens for a place in the final in the pursuit to win her 1st title in Dubai.
So How did Muguruza defeat Sabalenka again ?
During the press meeting soon after her quarter-final against the world no.8, Muguruza described that she was reasonably stunned at how aggressive Sabalenka started to play.
“I felt like she came out today more belligerent than our previous match in Qatar,” Muguruza revealed. “I felt like she needed to play more hard-hitting, faster, serving big, and I kind of labored to find my shots, my game, and she swiftly broke me with the serve.”
Then Muguruza spoke about the modifications she had to make to beat Sabalenka to say: “I attempted to be more aggressive as well. If you have someone in your face who is trying to win the point in a couple of hard hitting shots, you have to be quicker and tougher, so I tried to play the leading role after that. Then the whole thing was more evenly balanced. I felt more in the points.”
Garbine Muguruza faces Elise Mertens next.
Garbine Muguruza will play Mertens in the Dubai semifinal. The head to head is 1-0 in favour of Muguruza. When they played last, Muguruza won 2-6 6-0 6-3 in the 1st round in New York (U.S. Open) 4 years back.
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