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Garbine Muguruza fought hard to move on to the quarter-finals at the Australian Open on Monday. The former World No.1 topped World No.10 ranked Kiki Bertens 6-3, 6-3 on Rod Laver Arena at Melbourne Park. The Spaniard defeated her second top ten opponent while being unseeded herself, making her a dangerous foe moving into the last eight.
The mach marked the fifth meeting between the two stars, who were in a fight to keep their positive runs going. Muguruza had won their last meeting, which went to three sets. With Bertens advancing beyond her third-round finish in 2018, the 28-year-old had the chance to get closer to a possible maiden Grand Slam title.
Upon winning the coin toss, the ninth-seed chose to receive Muguruza’s serve, scoring the early break. The Spaniard broke back to remain level and get the two level on serve. A break made it 4-2 for Muguruza, who was never forced out of her comfort zone, keeping Bertens at bay. A hold for the Spaniard made it 5-2, with Bertens serving to stay alive in the set. Bertens gave Muguruza three set points, but the Dutch player saved a pair before Muguruza eventually bagged the first set in half an hour.
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The second set saw them break each other's serves. The key break for the Spaniard came in the fifth game, where she broke Bertens. While the Dutch tried to up the pace on her offense, it wasn’t enough to stop Muguruza. The 26-year-old took a 5-3 lead in the eighth, allowing her to serve for the match, which she did.
Speaking to Sam Smith on the court after the match, Muguruza said-
“Kiki is a very tough opponent, we’ve played many matches and all of them are battles so I was getting ready for a tough match and be concentrated.”
The 26-year-old will look to play at her best once again as she readies herself to face either 17th-seed Angelique Kerber or 30th-seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarter-finals.
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