‘I was a bit surprised about my level!’ Garbine Muguruza reflects on her second round loss at the 2022 Australian Open, blames COVID for her poor outing
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Garbine Muguruza
It was curtains for Spanish third seed Garbine Muguruza at the Rod Laver Arena as she bowed out of the 2022 Australian Open in the second round. She lost to Frenchwoman Alize Cornet in straight sets 3-6,3-6. Muguruza was one of the favorites at the Oz Open this year and was projected to go deep from the bottom half given her recent form.
In the press conference, Muguruza spoke in detail about her game today. She said that she was a bit rusty and didn’t serve well at all. She also gave credit to Cornet and lauded her for stepping up when it matters.
“It’s a tough day. I didn’t feel my game at all and yeah my serve wasn’t there. I think my shots weren’t there, also tactically I think I wasn’t doing the right decisions either. On top of that she she played very well, very solid game. I think she plays better when she’s playing against top players but yeah, a little bit surprised about my level. I am a little disappointed too,” she said.
She further said that she wasn’t aggressive enough and didn’t play well in general. “I feel like my shots weren’t as accurate and precise. I feel also my aggressive game wasn’t that aggressive today. I feel like she[Cornet] was dominating some of the long points, so yeah I think in general my game wasn’t there,” Muguruza said.
‘It was hard for me for the preparation to come to the Aussie swing’: Muguruza
Muguruza then revealed how her team testing positive right before travelling to Australia hampered her training. She was stressed out by that and that affected her training.
“It’s been a pretty stressful start of the year also with my team,” Muguruza said. “They all got COVID before coming here. We were for 15 days apart. It was hard for me for the preparation to come to the Aussie swing and play and perform well. That was tricky a little bit.”
She added that although she’s fine training by herself, the COVID thing always stayed in back of her mind. “Physically here I wasn’t also feeling my best,” she said.
“I’m okay always to train by myself and I like it. But it’s a tricky part of the year also. The pre-season, the start of the season, you are doing the last touches. You kind of want to continue working. That threw me a little bit off.”
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Lakshya Chopra
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