Qatar Open: Muguruza sent packing by Zhang, Cibulkova through to quarters

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Mixed day: For Muguruza (Credit: Samer Alrejjal/QTF)

    Garbine Muguruza endured a mixed day of results on Wednesday as she won her opener against Cagla Buyukakcay but lost her second round to Zhang Shuai to bid farewell to the Qatar Total Open on another rain-interrupted day in Doha.

    The Spanish No5 seed arrived from Fed Cup duty in Ostrava on Monday and had her opening round postponed from Tuesday. That meant that her 6-3, 6-2 win over Buyukakcay yesterday morning was followed by a second match in the afternoon, with a host of players needing to contest two clashes in one day.

    It was Zhang who ended up going two for two on Wednesday as the Chinese paired up her 7-6 (3), 6-3 win over Timea Babos with a 7-6 (3), 3-6, 7-5 success against Muguruza to reach the quarter-finals.

    Muguruza, the reigning French Open champion, fell behind 1-4 in the first set before battling back to draw level. But she trailed Zhang 2-5 in the tiebreak and never recovered to drop the opening set to the aggressive world No31.

    The Spanish world No7 retaliated to take the second before Zhang received medical treatment for a calf problem. Muguruza had five break points in Zhang’s first service game of the decider but couldn’t convert then quickly went down 0-2.

    It looked like Zhang’s lead wouldn’t last when Muguruza broke back in the next game but the Spaniard lost her serve again and was soon down 1-4.

    Serving for the match at 5-3, Zhang dropped serve allowing Muguruza back in the contest and she quickly leveled for 5-all. But Zhang took the next two games to join Dominika Cibulkova and Monica Puig as the only three players through to the last-eight so far.

    “I woke up thinking that I was going to have a very tough day,” said Muguruza, who next heads to Dubai for the Premier 5 tournament there.

    “I was like ‘Okay, let’s go for it. Let’s see what happens’. I played pretty good the first match. Thankfully was not that long.

    “The second one, I think Zhang played very well. Honestly, the conditions were difficult. We were in a court where there was another court next to us. There was a lot of wind. She was finding her shots.

    “I just said I was going to fight. I came here to play. I had it very clear. I fought.

    “At the end I think was, like, two points difference, honestly, and they went to her side.”

    Hero of the day: Zhang Shuai (Credit: Samer Alrejjal/QTF)

    Hero of the day: Zhang Shuai (Credit: Samer Alrejjal/QTF)

    Asked if she felt the medical timeout Zhang took after the second set interrupted her momentum, the 23-year-old Muguruza said: “I didn’t see any problem in her calf, honestly, when she was playing. But, no, I honestly didn’t care. I stick with my game. I’m like, I don’t care what the other one’s doing. In the third set, everybody makes weird stuff, honestly. So I try to be focus with my game, and that’s it.”

    Muguruza came to Doha after she took part in Spain’s defeat to defending champions Czech Republic in the Fed Cup first round last weekend. She beat Barbora Strycova in three sets before falling easily to Karolina Pliskova in her two singles rubbers.

    “Every time I play Fed Cup, I enjoy a lot the week. But it’s also very difficult for me because we had a very tough opponent. We played Czech Republic, which was, like, very bad draw. My matches were very hard. You’re playing, and you’re thinking, I have to give it all, I have to play for my team. You’re so motivated,” explained Muguruza.

    “Then you’re thinking, ‘Tomorrow I have to rush to another place. They’re waiting for me’. You have this on your mind, ‘Man, I don’t know how I’m going to do it’. That’s the bad side of playing Fed Cup. But you make choices. You sometimes rather play or not play.”

    The third-seeded Cibulkova overcame a tricky Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 in a match that had a brief rain delay.

    “I felt really, really lucky, that the rain didn’t catch me. I think I had good times when I practiced. It never rained. It’s, like, it will never rain when I’m on the court. It happened today first time,” said Cibulkova, who awaits the winner of the clash between Barbora Strycova and Sam Stosur.

    “It didn’t really bother me. I’m happy I finished the match.”

    Rain came pouring down at 19:00 and all the remaining matches of the day got cancelled including a highly-anticipated second round between top-seeded Angelique Kerber and Russian teen Daria Kasatkina.

    The delay means players will also have to play twice on Thursday for the tournament to remain on schedule. Someone like Russian Elena Vesnina may have to contest four matches, two in singles and two in doubles.

    Recommended