Garbine Muguruza is having a fantastic week in Dubai to reach the semifinal after beating Aryna Sabalenka for the second consecutive week 3-6 6-3 6-2. The world no.16 will face Elise Mertens for a place in the final in the quest to win her 1st title in Dubai.
How Muguruza defeated Sabalenka again
During the press conference that followed her quarter-final against the world no.8, Muguruza explained that she was somewhat surprised at how aggressive Sabalenka started to play.
“I felt like she came out today more aggressive than our last match in Doha,” Muguruza revealed. “I felt like she wanted to play more aggressive, faster, serving big, and I kind of struggled to find my shots, my game, and she quickly broke me with the serve.”
Then Muguruza talked about the adjustments she had to do to beat Aryna to say: “I tried to be more aggressive as well. If you have somebody in front of you that is trying to win the point in a couple of shots, you have to be faster and stronger, so I tried to be dominant after. Then everything was more equal. I felt more in the points.”
Next vs. Elise Mertens
Garbine Muguruza will compete against Mertens in the semifinal. The head to head is 1-0 for Muguruza. When they played, Garbine Muguruza won 2-6 6-0 6-3 in the 1st round in New York (U.S. Open) in August 2016.
Muguruza in Dubai, ranking, and results in 2021
At the moment ranked no.16, Garbine has managed to achieve a composed 16-4 record in 2021. The Spaniard is playing in Dubai where she bested Irina-Camelia Begu 6-3 7-5, Amanda Anisimova 6-4 6-2, Iga Swiatek 6-0 6-4 and Aryna Sabalenka 3-6 6-3 6-2.
Muguruza was the finalist in Melbourne (Yarra Valley Classic) and in Doha (Qatar Total Open).
Garbine won 7 titles in her career: 5 on hard courts, 1 on clay courts and 1 on grass courts. (See the list of her titles)
Mertens in Dubai, ranking, and results in 2021
Ranked no.18, Elise has achieved a composed 11-1 record in 2021. Mertens is currently competing in Dubai where she defeated Viktoriya Tomova 4-6 6-2 6-4, Shelby Rogers 6-3 6-3, Caroline Garcia 6-4 6-2 and Jessica Pegula 5-7 7-5 6-0.
Elise conquered 1 title in 2021 in Melbourne.
Elise won 6 titles in her career: 4 on hard courts and 2 on clay courts. (See the list of her titles)
Aryna Sabalenka in 2021
Ranked world no.8, Sabalenka played her last match on the 11th of March when she lost to Garbine Muguruza 3-6 6-3 6-2 in the quarter in Dubai (draw).
At the moment, during this season Aryna has a 11-4 match record. Aryna conquered 1 title in Abu Dhabi.
