Third seed Garbine Muguruza continued to motor through the French Open draw on Saturday, with the Spaniard cruising past former finalist Samantha Stosur in an impressive third round performance which sees her reach the second week in Paris for the fifth consecutive year.
Muguruza had impressed greatly against 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova and Fiona Ferro in her opening two matches, though many thought that Stosur, a finalist in Paris back in 2010 and twice a semifinalist since then, would be her biggest test so far after two straight-set victories. However, with the Australian way off her best, Muguruza was able to take complete control and prevail comfortably, winning 6-0, 6-2 in just an hour and two minutes.
Muguruza strolls past below-par Stosur to make week two
After a patch clay court season heading into the second Grand Slam tournament of the year, many were unsure as to how Muguruza would play at this tournament, though other fantastic performance today proves that she is in with a real chance of claiming her third Grand Slam in a weeks time.
It was the Spaniard who got off to a flying start out on Court Philippe Chatrier, breaking the 2010 finalist in the opening game, and Muguruza continued to motor as she quickly eased out to a 4-0 lead in the opening set. Stosur, who had picked up two confidence-building victories in her opening two matches, was far from her best, and further errors saw her get broken for the third time in as many service games. Muguruza had no issues in serving out the first set, claiming a bagel after just 24 minutes of action.
Just as the first set had started, Stosur was once again left to rue a poor start, with Muguruza breaking and consolidating for 2-0, securing the first eight games of the encounter. However, there were some encouraging signs for the Australian, who held for the first time and then took advantage of some errors from her opponent to level back up at 2-2, though she could not press any further and was once again broken for 3-2. After a slight wobble, Muguruza was once again striking the ball cleanly, and after holding broke again for a 5-2 lead. She had no issues serving for victory, with her first ace of the match sealing the win.
Despite the slight wobble at the beginning of the second set, it was undoubtedly an impressive performance from Muguruza, with the Spaniard hitting just nine unforced errors and an impressive 15 winners across the 14 games that took place. Unlike last year, where she struggled greatly as the defending champion before falling in the fourth round, Muguruza is looking well and truly at ease at Roland Garros this year and will be the favorite on Monday in her fourth round clash against Lesia Tsurenko.