Garbine Muguruza: will Martinez be her part-time coach moving forward?
By Gale Moorman
For some players it takes a group to help them succeed. For Garbine Muguruza, a substitute coach helped propel her to a Grand Slam title.
Garbine Muguruza’s full-time coach Sam Sumyk had family issues and couldn’t be available during Wimbledon. The captain of the Spanish Davis and Fed Cup, as well as the only Spaniard to win at Wimbledon, was called to help out with coaching.
Conchita Martinez silently sat in the player’s box watching and observing from the first ball, what Muguruza’s strategies are and what’s needed for her to be successful.
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Before Martinez came on the scene, Muguruza was a runner-up in the 2015 Wimbledon when she met up with Serena Williams in the final.
The following year at the French Open she won the title when she defeated Serena Williams for her first Grand Slam win. Last year she entered the 2016 Wimbledon ranked in the top five. She won her opening round with Italy’s Camila Giorgi and went as far as round two before being defeated by Jana Cepelova.
Muguruza is known for her baseline ground strokes and baseline rallies. When her coach wasn’t able to be present at this year’s Wimbledon, she’d known Conchita Martinez to have won Wimbledon in 1994. She thought this is the best choice as a substitute coach; someone skilled at how to succeed on grass.
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Muguruza has changed up her strategies as of her last Wimbledon, under the impact of Martinez.
Garbine Muguruza has shown her dominance against all opponents. It’s given her confidence in her shots, seeing her strokes and techniques elevated to being in the finals than bowing out at the second round as in last year’s 2016 Wimbledon. But Martinez is no stranger because she’s guided Muguruza and other Spanish players in the Davis and Fed Cups for nearly two years now.
As Muguruza awaits the final match of Wimbledon in playing Venus Williams, it wouldn’t be a surprise that she’s not thinking of having Martinez continue to coach her part-time.
"The positive results she’s shown at Wimbledon may not only be subjected because of a grass court surface and Muguruza has said about Martinez that “She’s helping me with the stress of the tournament…she just knows how to prepare, how to train, what to do. To have her by my side gives me this little confidence of having someone that has won [Wimbledon] before”."
This situation has worked towards Muguruza’s advantage in defeating No. 1 Angelique Kerber, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Rybarikova. She plays more relaxed and consistent now which was lacking in her previous performances. Over 70% of the time Muguruza has won when going to the net. 40% of her rallies are inside the baseline causing anyone to be pushed back and volleying as a result.
It’s obvious too that her backhand has been a strong key of keeping her opponents back. Whether it be the strategies of the Davis and Fed Cup Captain instilling this in Garbine or not, she has been winning enough and attributes much to gaining more confidence in her playing style under the part-time coaching of her substitute coach, Conchita Martinez.