INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – Reigning French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza brought No.10 seed Elina Svitolina’s 15 match winning streak to an emphatic end with a 7-6(5), 1-6, 6-0 victory at the BNP Paribas Open to book an intruiging match-up with No.3 seed Karolina Pliskova in the quarterfinals.
“I think it was a very difficult match today,” she said in her post-match press conference. “It was like a test, because she has been winning, like, 15 matches in a row, and she just getting to Top 10, as well.
“I was, like, okay, it’s going to be a tough match and she has a very difficult game, as well. I’m pretty happy about my match. It wasn’t easy at all.”
Svitolina has quickly become the player to beat after back-to-back titles at the Taiwan Open and the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships – with wins in Fed Cup in between – helping her become the first Ukrainian women to crack the Top 10.
Muguruza, by contrast, came to the California desert with question marks after a left achilles injury forced her to retire from her opening round in Dubai, and was a set from defeat against 17-year-old wildcard Kayla Day on Sunday.
Still, the Spaniard raced out to a 5-2 lead to start and survived a late surge to hold off Svitolina in the ensuing tie-break.
“I felt like I almost had to control the match. Not really the second set. I think she played very good in the second set. But in that first set, I started very well, and I knew that that match can turn around so easily, you know. It’s going to be a battle.
“I accept it that she came back. Then I kept fighting until the tie-break, and it was, like, two points’ difference!”
Undeterred, the Ukrainian youngster took the momentum from the end of the first set into the second, roaring to a decider, dropping just five points on her first serve and converting all three break points to level the match.
“Today was a bit of a mental struggle,” Svitolina told WTA Insider. “When I woke up this morning, I was feeling tired, and I needed to fight through the fatigue. It was up and down, but I needed to fight through it and I was feeling like I did the right things, and that I had my chances throughout the match.
“But there are a lot of positives I can take from a match like this, and I can be proud of myself that I’d been able to fight through so many days like today. I’ve had some incredible matches and I can be proud of those and move forward.”
The first three games of the final sent would go to deuce, but Muguruza would win each one and never looked back, converting the bagel on her second match point.
“I think I can play in a number of different ways. And today I knew it was going to be difficult, because even though you try different things, you are playing against a Top 10 player and you can, you know, not win.
“I was just trying to do my game today, basically, because I think that was the way to win.”
Up next for Muguruza is Czech nemesis Pliskova, who has won their last five matches of their head-to-head after losing their first meeting at the 2013 French Open.
The pair most recently played ta Fed Cup, where the No.3 seed triumphed in straight sets, though Muguruza pushed Plisova to three sets in their round robin match at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
“I think it’s one of the toughest matches I can have now. I think she’s playing very good. She has been very consistent, and I have been watching her.
She has her game, which is very aggressive with good serve. So I’m just going to go out there and try to do my game, try to be concentrate. I know it’s a tough match.
“I cannot do more than give it all there.”
