Saturday, June 4, 2016, was the greatest day in Garbine Muguruza’s life, the day she hoisted the Coupe de Suzanne Lenglen as French Open champion after overcoming the seemingly invincible Serena Williams. In the ensuing 12 months she has struggled to justify her reputation as a contender for major titles.
Muguruza was heralded as the next superstar of the women’s game, a power hitter with an athletic physique and the sort of photogenic image that sits easily on the covers of glossy magazines. But fame did not sit comfortably with the 23- year-old Spaniard, who was born in Venezuela.
A second-round defeat at Wimbledon, an early departure from the US Open and an unsuccessful Olympic Games were not what was expected. There was renewed hope at the start of the new year when she reached the Australian Open quarter-finals, but an emphatic 6-4 6-0 defeat by American Coco Vandeweghe left more question marks.
In contesting 19 tournaments since her success at Roland Garros, Muguruza has not managed to reach a final. Things seemed to hit an all-time low when she lost in her opening match of last month’s Madrid Open.
“It’s so disappointing,” she said. “I have zero expectations and wish I could perform better. I train hard but when the match comes, it’s just not there. I feel sad and I’m not looking forward to Roland Garros. Now I have to find why.”
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Just when it seemed that Muguruza might have turned a psychological corner at the Internazionale BNL d’Italia in Rome two weeks ago, she hurt her neck in the warm- up for the semi-final and was forced to retire after just five games.
This year Muguruza had been forced to quit in three other tournaments — Brisbane, Doha and Miami. There were constant questions about her commitment. Rarely had a defending champion been less spoken about as a contender to retain her title as the fourth-seeded Spaniard.
However a return to the clay in Paris has had a rejuvenating effect. Suddenly her big, swinging game seems to be functioning again. The self-belief, painfully absent in so many of her recent matches, is back.
“With each match my confidence is returning,” said Muguruza, a Wimbledon finalist in 2015. “The more matches I play, the tougher victories I have, a successful feeling grows out there. Not one of my matches has been easy but I’m happy I went out there on court without fear.”
After beating another former champion, Francesca Schiavone, in the first round, Muguruza is on a march. She beat the promising Estonian Anett Kontaveit in three sets and followed up with a more dominant win over 27th-seed Yulia Putintseva from Kazakhstan.
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These opponents are not from the elite of women’s tennis and Schiavone, at the age of 36, may announce her retirement in the coming week. A stiffer test awaits today in the form of the 13th seed Kristina Mladenovic who, in the most open women’s Grand Slam tournament in years, is stoking optimism that there might finally be a home champion at Roland Garros for the first time since Mary Pierce claimed the title in 2000.
“No matter who is my opponent, I must keep thinking that I have come through three difficult matches,” Muguruza said. “Apart from the slight strain and pressure, I feel good. I know that there will be more problems in the next round but I’m becoming happier again.
“This year Mladenovic is very talented. Her confidence has gone up because she’s had quite a lot of wins. She is also at home. Then again, maybe, you know, playing at home is a double-edged sword, like it is for me in Madrid. All I can do is try to dictate and play my game.”
The pair have only met once before, on a clay court in far less grandiose surroundings in Marrakech two years ago when Mladenovic won in two tiebreaks.
Many people’s favourite for the title, third seed Simona Halep beat Russia’s Daria Kasatkina 6-0 7-5 to set up a meeting with Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro. “It was a high standard,” said Halep. “I’m not feeling pressure. I just have confidence that I have my chance.”