Tennis News

Her relentless pursuit of the highest echelons of tennis now comes with the reality of having to deliver week-in and week-out. Ranked World No.3, Garbiñe Muguruza has gone from underdog to favorite, and along with that comes the inevitable – pressure.

“Before, I was Garbiñe who had chances to win; now I’m Garbiñe who is supposed to win,” Muguruza told Spanish reporters during the off-season.

“Until now I had never found myself in a situation with so many expectations and so much pressure. It’s something I have to take in, because you can’t learn that off of the court. You’re out there and you have to manage it.”

But the 22-year-old Spaniard remains undaunted by the big task of meeting high expectations – in fact, she’s learned to relish the pressure.

“It’s about dealing with it on your own,” she said, “because there’s no one who can teach you how to handle it all. It’s a part of my job – all this pressure. And I love it.”

And another thing Muguruza is loving are her chances at the Australian Open despite having to bow out of the Brisbane International early, her first tournament of 2016 cut short by the flare up of a long-standing foot injury. She’s optimistic that it won’t be a problem in Melbourne.

Muguruza hasn’t made it past the fourth round at Melbourne yet, but she also has never been seeded so high – her ranking guarantees a Top 4 seed. The only people to knock her out of the Happy Slam – Serena Williams and Agnieszka Radwanska – are both in the Top 4 as well, so she won’t have to face them until at least the semifinals.

Can the youngest member of the WTA Top 10 seize this opportunity and win the biggest title of her career in Melbourne?

Petra Kvitova finds herself caught at the crossroads of two tennis eras – but she quite likes it that way.

The big hitting lefty is not quite in the generation of WTA veterans like Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams. But in turn, she’s not in the crowd of new stars likes Garbiñe Muguruza, Simona Halep and fellow Czech Karolina Pliskova who are fast on the rise. Kvitova remains the first and only Grand Slam winner – male or female – born in the 90s.

How does the two-time Wimbledon champion feel about being the most accomplished member of this ‘in between’ group?

“I don’t feel any pressure,” Kvitova told China’s CCTV in Shenzhen. “I know that Serena has been there for a long time – she’s still the biggest champion that we have. And the younger generation is coming up and they are pushing us a lot. I think it’s good that we can see many [new] faces playing so well.

“There’s room in tennis right now – it’s very open. It’s nice to compete and not really be expecting who can win. It’s more difficult and less predictable this way.”

Kvitova experienced first-hand the unpredictability of the emerging younger generation: at last year’s Australian Open, she was stunned by a then 19-year-old Madison Keys in the third round.

The Australian Open is Kvitova’s toughest major: her best results in Melbourne have been an appearance in the quarterfinal in 2011 and in the semifinal in 2012. But if she could choose which of the four slams she’d like to win, the Czech is up for the challenge.

“If I could have another Grand Slam, I would pick either the Australian Open or the French Open,” she said. “At the Australian Open, the hard courts, I just love that Grand Slam a lot. I feel so relaxed in Australia.”

To make that wish come true, Kvitova is facing an uphill climb. She was forced to withdraw from Shenzhen in her first round match and later from Sydney – where she was the defending champion – due to a stomach virus. The last time she played a complete match was at the Fed Cup final, when she helped propel the Czech Republic to victory more than two months ago.

If Kvitova can shake off the off-season rust and beat her lingering illness, the Czech is poised for a deep run in Melbourne – as long as she can make it past the initial hurdles and build up the confidence she needs.

“I don’t really like the beginning of the tournaments, for sure,” Kvitova said. “But that’s how it is – it’s probably normal that I’m improving my game with each match in a tournament.

“And then when the finish line comes, I’m feeling better about my game.”