Garbiñe Muguruza was looking to make to yet another quarterfinal at the French Open and standing in her way was 15th seed, Svetlana Kuznetsova. Notably, the Russian has the victory in the only ever meeting between the two last year in Madrid and would look to that to cause an upset.
It was a tight contest from the start before Muguruza found the only break to clinch the first set. She was edging ahead in the second and despite a late fightback from Kuznetsova was able to see off the Russian to progress to her third straight quarterfinal.
Close first set with one break to decide the winner
It was a close match between the big hitters with both players easing through their first few games with relative ease. Kuznetsova found the first opening in the fifth game after Muguruza failed to put away an easy volley at the net. The chance was snuffed out though as the Spaniard hit some aggressive shots to edge the set 3-2 on serve.
The Russian then had her own test in the subsequent game. Cruising through at 40-0, she was pegged back by Muguruza to deuce before the Spaniard pounced onto a weak second serve to set up her first break point. Muguruza was not able to capitalize but before long another came her way as the Russian hit a double fault. The Spaniard sent her backhand wide but Kuznetsova was finding it hard to close out the game. As the game stretched past 10 minutes, five break points had come and gone for the fourth seed. Despite the pressure, the Russian was able to eventually pull through to level the set 3-3.
As the match progressed, opportunities were arising for both players. Muguruza who created so many chances in that epic game had to face one of her own in the seventh game. The Spaniard, however, showed no signs of nerves, blasting an ace to coolly save the point and close out for 4-3. Finally, it was Muguruza who found the first break, sending a fiery backhand winner in the eighth game to take the lead for 5-4.
Kuznetsova continued fighting as Muguruza was serving for the set. The Russian was hitting with a lot of depth but the Spaniard was standing up to the challenge and sealed the first set with another backhand winner.
Kuznetsova surmounts a fight back but it's not enough
Momentum was with the Spaniard as she continued to create chances with her aggressive play. Kuznetsova was able to brush off the first break point in the first game of the set but eventually succumbed in the third game. Once again, Muguruza who was lashing onto second serves with venom, did just that with a forehand return winner to go 2-1 up. The Spaniard was lethal with her backhands as she extended her lead to 3-1.
The pair were exchanging some great rallies and Muguruza was coming out tops most times. With constant pressure from the Spaniard, Kuznetsova’s error count was creeping up handing yet another break point to Muguruza. The Russian hung on though for 2-3 to keep herself within touching distance.
Kuznetsova tried changing things up and was rewarded with a double break point in the eighth game. In an ensuing baseline rally, it was Muguruza who faltered allowing the Russian to find the break back for 4-4. Despite giving the break back, the Spaniard continued her aggressive play causing trouble on the Russian’s serve. And at the second time of asking, Muguruza hit a measured forehand to break and take the lead once more for 5-4.
Serving for the match, the Spaniard sent an unfortunate double fault to hand Kuznetsova the opportunity to break back once more. Muguruza remained calm to fend off the Russian. Kuznetsova was making it hard for the Spaniard who let slip four match points. Eventually, Muguruza was able to overcome the Russian to seal the victory on her fifth match point.