Garbine Muguruza wins opener, aims to defend French Open title

Garbine Muguruza is the defending champion at the French Open. She wins her opening round match to advance at the Grand Slam.

Garbine Muguruza defeats Francesca Schiavone in her first round match.

The Spanish-Venezuelan tennis player is the defending women’s singles champion at Roland Garros. While Muguruza was the heavy favorite, Schiavone is also a former French Open champion herself.

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The Italian tennis player won the 2010 French Open.

She falls, however, to the fourth seed Muguruza in straight sets. Garbine Muguruza takes the match, winning 6-2, 6-4. Up next for the defending champion is Anett Kontaveit on Wednesday.

Also winning their opening round matches were Simona Halep and Karolina Pliskova. With top seeded Angelique Kerber seeing an unexpected first round upset, the path to victory is improved for each of the other top women’s singles seeds.

Kerber’s loss is huge for Muguruza’s chances at the French Open.

With Kerber out of the mix and American Serena Williams missing this year’s tournament, the defending champion stands to benefit from their absences. Halep and other young stars such as Caroline Wozniacki will prove to be the most difficult to defeat at Roland Garros this year.

Garbine Muguruza, just 23-years-old herself, is one of several rising stars in the sport. As the defending champion, however, she has a lot to prove in this year’s competitive field. Stay tuned to see how she fares throughout the rest of the tournament.

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