US Open 2017: Garbiñe Muguruza cruises to first round victory
Garbiñe Muguruza has as much momentum as anyone on the WTA Tour. She continued to cruise during the first round of the 2017 US Open.
The 2017 US Open will serve as something of a proving ground for world No. 3 Garbiñe Muguruza. She’s closing in on genuinely elite status, but her fatal flaw during her brief WTA career has been an inability to win at the US Open.
During her first-round matchup against Varvara Lepchenko, Muguruza got off to an excellent start at the one Grand Slam she’s yet to break through at.
Muguruza, 23, is widely regarded as a favorite to walk away from Flushing Meadows with the world No. 1 ranking. It’s far from a guaranteed occurrence, but if the first round is a sign of things to come, the threat will be valid.
In what was a purely dominant display, Muguruza cruised to a 6-3, 6-4 victory in the first round of the 2017 US Open.
Vamos! @GarbiMuguruza drops just 10 points on serve to move past Lepchenko 6-0, 6-3 in R1 of the #USOpen. https://t.co/DCjJLunsfy pic.twitter.com/1OAYXPp8Yd
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 28, 2017
Dominant may be an overused word in the sports world, but anyone who drops 10 points in service games deserves that label.
Muguruza’s serve was somewhat erratic, but she won 20 of a possible 24 points off of her first serve. She also converted five of a possible six break point opportunities, and committed half as many unforced errors as Lepchenko.
In her first showing at the 2017 US Open, Muguruza displayed just how dominant she can be when she’s focused and dialed in.
Garbine Muguruza has started off strongly at the #USOpen. How far do you think she'll go this year?
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 28, 2017
Muguruza will play the winner of the match between Ying-Ying Duan and Claire Liu in the second round at Flushing Meadows.
Muguruza is a two-time Grand Slam champion, securing wins at the French Open in 2016, and Wimbledon in 2017. She has four other quarterfinal appearances and one other trip to a Grand Slam final, but winning at the US Open has been an unconquerable task.
Despite reaching the quarterfinal at each of the other three Grand Slam events, Muguruza has never made it past the second round at the US Open.
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With her dominant showing in Round 1, Garbiñe Muguruza has taken a massive step towards exorcising her US Open demons.