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Copyright © 2015. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.
Spain’s former women’s tennis greats have joined the Garbine Muguruza bandwagon after the breakthrough youngster won the China Open to reach fourth in the rankings. And with only one point separating the 22-year-old from Maria Sharapova, the Russian five-time grand slam event winner will need to take notice when she returns after half a season of injuries.
One-time Spanish grand slam event champions Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Conchita Martinez are keen on Muguruza, who showed her potential in the summer by playing the Wimbledon final against Serena Williams. Muguruza was the first Spanish woman to play the Wimbledon final since Sanchez Vicario in 1996 and the first to reach a grand slam event singles final since Martinez at Roland Garros in 2000.
Her Beijing trophy performance against Swiss Timea Bacsinszky marked the biggest career success for Spanish-Venezuelan Muguruza, who only broke into the top 10 a matter of days ago. “She is a girl who is capable of everything and she has the potential to get to the very top,” Sanchez Vicario told sports daily Marca.
Added men’s Davis Cup captain and 1994 Wimbledon winner Martinez: “We all thought she had a lot of potential and her development is going very well. “The way the women’s circuit is at the moment, I believe Garbine is capable of everything.”
“She has an aggressive game and when she is on song it’s unstoppable. I know she is working hard on the things she needs to improve so she can go as far as possible.”
Muguruza changed coaches to combat a post-Wimbledon slump, with her new alliance with Frenchman Sam Sumyk paying major dividends. She reached the Wuhan final in China, but had to quit with an ankle injury against Venus Williams.
After her Beijing title, she withdrew as top seed from this week’s Hong Kong event to rest her ankle for the year-end tournament in Singapore at the end of the month.
Copyright © 2015. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.
