Garbine Muguruza widening her focus beyond the Grand Slams, has eye on return to No. 1

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  • When Garbine Muguruza was a little girl, she dreamt of winning Wimbledon. She grew up fantasising about winning Grand Slams, playing on the biggest stages in tennis and lifting the most prestigious trophies.

    At 22, the Spaniard claimed her first major, upsetting Serena Williams to win the French Open. A year later, she beat Venus Williams to triumph at Wimbledon.

    Beating the Williams sisters to win your first two Slams – success doesn’t get more legitimate than that.

    But between Muguruza’s flashes of brilliance, there came periods of indifference. Wimbledon was just her fourth career title. She often admitted that stepping up for the smaller tournaments has not been as easy as finding the motivation for the Grand Slams, and her results certainly reflected that.

    Consistency had been her Achilles’ heel but that has slowly been changing.

  • Dubai Tennis: Daria Kasatkina beats Agnieszka Radwanska at her own game to reach round two

  • Last season, she won Cincinnati – her fifth career trophy – before making the semis in Tokyo and quarters in Wuhan. Muguruza had a rough start to 2018, struggling with a leg injury but she made a run to the Doha final last week.

    The world No. 3 believes she is finally finding the correct formula to approach each tournament with the right amount of focus and drive.

    “I think I’m trying. I think I improved that a lot,” Muguruza told reporters in Dubai on Tuesday.

    “When you’re younger, you’re always dreaming about winning Grand Slams. You don’t feel that excited when it’s not Wimbledon. But it’s normal. Every player has that.

    “Once you are in a Grand Slam, you’re like, ‘Okay this is history’. I learned with the years that all the WTA events are important. We have even huge tournaments.

    “It is the key also to be in the top spots because you need to perform constantly good, constantly moving forward in the big tournaments. Only with magic and few tournaments a year, it’s tough to be in this spot.”

    Muguruza’s increased motivation was rewarded last fall when she rose to the No. 1 ranking for the first time. She spent just four weeks there before she was replaced by Simona Halep in October.

    The top spot is in play almost each week on the women’s tour at the moment and Muguruza knows there is an opportunity to get back there – although she isn’t obsessing over it.

    “It is important. I always have it in my mind, to be able to fight for that. I remember it was a great feeling to be there, even though it’s tough. But I want to fight for that. I know it’s the hardest one, but… I’m going to be there, try to,” said the Venezuelan-born Spaniard.

    Muguruza says last year she was more aware of the potential switches at the top of the rankings (the top spot swapped hands seven times last year). She is trying to pay less attention to it this time around.

    Last year's No. 1 ranking switches.

    Last year’s No. 1 ranking switches.

    She confesses being at the very top is a different feeling.

    “It’s just you realise a lot of things when you’re there. You’re like, okay, I’m here, I can’t go more up, all I can do is go down. There’s all these girls that want my spot, I have to defend it. You have this, like, alarm all the time,” she explains.

    Muguruza begins her Dubai campaign on Wednesday against American teenager Catherine “CiCi” Bellis in the second round.

    Not long ago, Muguruza was the young up-and-comer on tour, looking to challenge the veterans. Now she feels the tables are turning, even though she is only 24.

    “I’m starting to see I’m not that young,” she joked when asked which one of the younger players she sees winning a Grand Slam first.

    “I remember at the Australian Open, I’m looking at the draw, especially Australian Open, I don’t know why I always have this feeling in that swing, I’m seeing these girls, I’m like, ‘Who is this?’ They’re playing really good. I’m starting to feel of the change a little bit.

    “The one that I’ve been more seeing was CiCi Bellis. She’s playing all these tournaments and she’s doing good.”

    At 18, Bellis is the youngest in the world’s top-50. She reached the quarters in Dubai last year and defeated Australian Open semi-finalist Elise Mertens in her opener on Tuesday.

    She is looking forward to challenging herself against the third-ranked Muguruza.

    “I’ve never played her before. It’s definitely going to be a new experience for me. It will be fun,” said Bellis.

    “She’s an unbelievable player. Yeah, she’s been at the top of the game for a while now. It will be great for me just to see where my game lines up against another one of the top players. Just try to enjoy it. I’m having a lot of fun out here.”

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