2018 was a year of surprises — particularly for #GarbineMuguruza but for the completely wrong reasons. It has been a relatively disappointing year for the Spaniard, who was just 50 points away from being the top-ranked player in the world at the start of 2018. A downward spiral followed as the former world number one struggled to find her form and consistency throughout the year.
Drama revolving her sour relationship with coach Sam Sumyk was brought to light and many pondered if Muguruza ever considered ending their partnership after all their heated disagreements during on-court coaching sessions. However, Muguruza is definitely not the same player we saw in 2017 which propelled her to the Wimbledon title and the top rank.
Muguruza ended 2018 with a rather disappointing 35-20 (.636) win-loss record but only claimed two top-10 wins, both of which coming against Caroline Garcia who also followed in Muguruza’s footsteps by dropping out of the top-10 by the end of the year. She endured through six losses to players ranked outside the top-50 and had to settle for only one WTA title amidst all her struggles.
High Points of the Season
The first sight of peak Muguruza came during the Middle East swing when the Spaniard almost managed to make consecutive finals had she not blown her opportunities. Her Qatar Total Open performances were outrageously impressive as Muguruza stormed past quality opponents with ease, but fell short to the unstoppable Petra Kvitova in a thrilling final.
Carrying her good form into the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, Muguruza ousted Catherine Bellis and Caroline Garcia to reach the semifinals where she held multiple match points against Daria Kasatkina but failed to convert her chances as the Spaniard’s run ended in the last four.
Muguruza’s first and only title of 2018 came at the Monterrey Open. She stormed to the final without losing a set and losing just 13 games in the process. The former world number one then came from a set and a break down to defeat Timea Babos in a tight final. Muguruza went on to help her country defeat Paraguay in a one-sided Fed Cup clash.
In addition, the best moment of Muguruza’s season could just well be the fortnight during Roland Garros. Steering past fellow former Paris champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in a blockbuster opening-round clash, Muguruza strolled into the semifinals with a stunning 6-2, 6-1 dominating win over dark horse Maria Sharapova, who was tipped to reclaim the throne this year. She then fell to eventual champion Simona Halep in a semifinal match whereby a win would have sent her back to the top of the rankings.
Towards the end of the year, Muguruza’s fifth semifinal appearance of the year finally came at the Hong Kong Tennis Open. Receiving a favourable draw, the Spaniard pounced on her chances and reached the last four, but failed to close out a 4-1 lead in the final set as Wang Qiang proved to be too strong eventually. Despite her poor year, Muguruza still managed to quality for the WTA Elite Trophy where she got past two quality opponents in Zhang Shuai and Anastasija Sevastova in the Round Robin stage to reach the semifinals where she fell to Wang once again.
Low Points of the Season
Starting her year at the Brisbane International, Muguruza had the golden opportunity to reclaim the number one ranking if she reached the final. However, she struggled with the deadly Australian summer heat and was overwhelmed by cramps against Aleksandra Krunic in her first match of the season, being forced to retire ultimately.
The Spaniard then took a wildcard into the Apia International Sydney but ultimately withdrew before her quarterfinal clash. Those tough conditions certainly took a toll on Muguruza, who surprisingly fell in the second round of the Australian Open to the giant-killing Hsieh Su-wei.
Muguruza was an all-rounder and was expected to perform well at the North American hardcourt swing, where valuable ranking points were up for grabs. However, she failed to capitalize on these opportunities. Despite leading 6-2, 3-0 against the unheralded Sachia Vickery, Muguruza was stunned by the American underdog in three sets and was vanquished in the opening round of the BNP Paribas Open.
Muguruza, a former Roland Garros champion, was the home favourite at the Mutua Madrid Open but failed to live up to her own expectations after falling in the third round to Daria Kasatkina. Her struggles continued to bother her when she blew match points against Daria Gavrilova at the Internazionali BNL D’Italia, which meant that she entered Paris without a quarterfinal on clay.
Being proficient on grass as well, many expectations were weighed on Muguruza as she came in with the burden of being the defending Wimbledon champion. She came off second-best against nemesis Barbora Strycova at the Nature Valley Classic before an apparent arm injury resulted in a poor second-round performance against Alison Van Uytvanck; crashing out of Wimbledon earlier than expect which brought about an exit from the top-10.
The arm injury continued to bother Muguruza through the US Open Series, forcing her to announce a late withdrawal from both the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic and the Rogers Cup. Muguruza made her long-awaited return to competition at the Western and Southern Open, where she was the defending champion once more. Despite leading by a break in the decider, the Spaniard was shocked by Lesia Tsurenko in her opener, her fifth first-round exit of the year.
Entering the US Open not being on the pundits’ list of favourites, Muguruza went into Flushing Meadows being relatively unnoticed but many paid attention to her second-round stunner against 202nd-ranked Karolina Muchova under the lights of the brand new Louis Armstrong Stadium, a site where major upsets are known to occur.
The Asian Swing was yet another disappointment for Muguruza, who struggled to rattle in the wins to end the year on a high note. She was stunned by qualifier Alison Riske with a surprisingly one-sided 1-6, 2-6 scoreline at the Toray Pan Pacific Open before a poor 6-7, 6-7 loss to Katerina Siniakova followed at the Wuhan Open where she failed to take her chances being the highest-ranked player left in the draw at the point of her exit.
Going up against the red-hot Aryna Sabalenka in the second round of the China Open, a blockbuster was ensured. Muguruza fought for the pride and wanted to prove her credentials, stamping her authority across the court but failed to grab the win against the firing Belarusian who just could not stop winning. The Spaniard ultimately came up second-best in a high-quality straight-sets encounter.
Starting to get overpowered by players ranked lower than her, Muguruza’s authority started to get challenged and the lower-ranked players are starting to possess the belief that the Spaniard is vulnerable to upsets. Dayana Yastremska was one of them, with the Hong Kong champion blowing Muguruza off the court at the BGL Luxembourg Open in straight sets.
Season Grade: C
Many expected Muguruza to break new heights in her career after a stellar 2017 — but who would have expected the Spaniard to fall out of the top-10 and claim just one solitary International title throughout the year? It has definitely been a disappointing season for Muguruza who failed to live up to her standards but nonetheless, she can only improve from here in 2019 and make a push to the top once more.
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