Garbine Muguruza wants to relieve the pressure of winning titles and focus more on enjoying her tennis after plummetting to 82nd in the WTA world rankings.
Murguruza won just 12 matches across the entire 2022 season and she is now in her lowest-ranked position since 2013. Despite the setbacks and the tough run of recent form, the 29-year-old is optimistic that she can turn her fortunes around in 2023.
"It’s a process of trying to get back up there. Now I’m focusing on training hard and being humble. You have to know that maybe you haven’t had the success recently as you had in other years, but that’s fine because things can change very quickly."
In early 2022, Muguruza was third in the world rankings following a strong 2021 season, where she won the WTA Finals championship after beating Anett Kontaveit.
But Murguruza has not beaten a player ranked higher than 31st since her final win against Kontaveit. Now the two-time Grand Slam champion is changing her approach and hopes to move forward by enjoying her tennis first, which she hopes will naturally lead to more future success.
“I feel that this year it’s more about keeping it calm and more simple. Last year I put myself under a lot of pressure, telling myself to keep going to stay at the top all the time. That definitely didn’t help me, and it was a bit of a struggle."
Muguruza returns to action in the Abu Dhabi Open this week after crashing out of the Australian Open against Elise Mertens in the first round.
Former world number one Muguruza reached the third round of the Abu Dhabi Open in 2021 and will take on Czech Republic player Karolina Pliskova in the opening round this season.
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