Muguruza's First Opponent Of 2016 Is…

Muguruza's First Opponent Of 2016 Is…

  • Posted: Jan 03, 2016

BRISBANE, Australia – As the No.2 seed, Garbiñe Muguruza gets a first round bye at the Brisbane International – but she now knows who she’ll play in the second round of the Premier-level event.

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That would be Varvara Lepchenko, who needed just an hour and 13 minutes to beat Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, 6-2, 6-1. With the win, she’s the first player to win a WTA main draw match in 2016.

Muguruza beat Lepchenko in straight sets the pair’s only previous meeting, at Wimbledon last year.

On Saturday, Muguruza met the press as part of her All Access Hour interviews. The first question was something many have been thinking about – after such a sensational 2015 that saw her make her first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon and finish as the World No.3, how will she follow it up in 2016?

“Well, for me it’s actually not going to be different,” Muguruza declared. “I’m just going to try to do the same as last year. I know people will expect more because they saw a great level of tennis in the last tournaments, which is normal, so I understand it’s going to happen, but I won’t change anything.

“I’m just going to keep working hard and going out to the court and trying to perform the best that I can, and try and use the things that I’ve been working on in practice. And we’ll see what happens.”

And what about this week’s Brisbane International? “It’s my first tournament of the year, so I’m trying not to expect anything. I just want to feel healthy and have good energy after all the work I did in the pre-season. I’m not thinking about winning, though obviously you want to win, of course!”

The World No.3 was also asked about the upcoming Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and whether she and her doubles partner, Carla Suárez Navarro, would make any adjustments leading up to it. And they will.

“We’re going to play less tournaments for sure,” Muguruza said. “We’re maybe going to play only three or four tournaments in doubles, which is quite a big change. We’re going to slow down a little bit.”

She was then asked about potentially playing mixed doubles with ATP legend Rafael Nadal.

“Well that would be amazing!” Muguruza beamed. “Conchita Martínez is the one who’ll decide in the end who plays the mixed doubles. But if I have the opportunity to play with Rafa, that would be great!”

Lepchenko wasn’t the only first round winner on Sunday, with four other players moving through to the second round: Andrea Petkovic, who outdid Teliana Pereira, 6-1, 6-2; Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who upset No.5 seed Timea Bacsinszky, 6-2, 6-1; Dominika Cibulkova, who outlasted Yanina Wickmayer, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4; and Alizé Cornet, who won an all-French encounter against Kristina Mladenovic, 6-3, 6-4.

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