Garbine Muguruza eyes another boost to season at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships

Spaniard will be looking to replicate last year's victorious campaign that culminated in WTA Finals triumph

Garbine Muguruza celebrates with the trophy following victory in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships final. Getty Images

Garbine Muguruza of Spain returns to Alize Cornet of France in their second round match at the Australian Open in Melbourne. EPA

Garbine Muguruza plays a forehand return to Clara Burel of France during their first round match at the 2022 Australian Open. AP

Garbine Muguruza speaks to the media ahead of the 2022 Australian Open at Melbourne Park. AFP

Garbine Muguruza has moved up to sixth in the WTA rankings. EPA

Garbine Muguruza, centre, during her tribute ceremony ahead of the LaLiga match between Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao at Santiago Bernabeu on December 1, 2021. EPA

Spain's King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia with Garbine Muguruza after she won the 2021 WTA Finals. EPA

Garbine Muguruza, center, with Billie Jean King, right, Conchita Martinez, second from right, Chris Evert, left, and Martina Navratilova, after defeating Anett Kontaveit in the final match of the WTA Finals in Guadalajara, Mexico on November 17, 2021. AP

Garbine Muguruza after winning the WTA Finals in Guadalajara, Mexico. EPA

A little less than a year ago, Garbine Muguruza arrived late to Dubai and was coming off of a disappointing defeat to Petra Kvitova in the Qatar Open final.

The Spanish two-time major champion was ranked 16 in the world at the time and hadn’t won a title in nearly two years. A week later, Muguruza was hoisting Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships' shiny ‘coffee pot’ trophy, celebrating an impressive victory over Barbora Krejcikova in the final, and scooping her biggest title since 2017.

That run at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis stadium proved to be an important turning point for Muguruza, who went on to win two more titles in 2021, including the prestigious season-ending WTA Finals in Guadalajara. The ex-world No 1 finished the year ranked three in the world, and re-established herself as a force on the women’s tour.

“It meant a lot,” Muguruza told reporters in Dubai on Sunday, reflecting her triumph in the emirates last year.

“It was such a weird tournament; coming last minute from Doha, without a team – well, without part of my team, playing so many matches in a row. I think it was a hell of an experience. But it was good, gave me a lot of confidence in myself.”

At 28 years of age, Muguruza is no rookie on tour. She has experienced incredible highs and challenging lows and continues to develop different ways to handle the roller coaster nature of the professional tennis circuit.

She arrives to Dubai this year on the back of an unexpected early exit at the Australian Open, where she fell to Alize Cornet in the second round.

“I was disappointed. It took a couple of days back home [to get over it],” Muguruza admitted.

“I'm like, ‘Okay, how I'm going to shake things up? How I'm going to come back stronger?’ We started training pretty fast, a lot kind of just to put the work, feel like, ‘Okay, I'm going to prepare better’. It’s always disappointing to lose in a Grand Slam that early. But I moved on. I'm here. This is a good tournament. It's in the past already.”

Enjoying her time away from the court has been a priority for Muguruza. The Venezuela-born Spaniard has many hobbies, including baking, and also has an adventurous side she likes to explore any chance she gets.

In one of her offseasons, she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa. In another, she trained with Spain’s Civil Guard, which involved jumping from helicopters, going cave-diving and trekking mountains on search and rescue missions.

In the build-up to this Dubai tournament, Muguruza’s escapades were less daring but equally exciting as she went on a trip to the desert with her team to unwind ahead of her title defence campaign.

“Being so many years here in Dubai, I've never had the right day to go and do this experience. I said, ‘You know what, this is the year’. The tournament was so nice to actually organise a trip for us,” she said.

“We went in the desert. We did a little bit of a junior experience, I would say. We were a little scared to hurt ourselves in the dunes.

“It is so important to do fun things also because every week is hard, every tournament is difficult. We need that fun side of the work that we do. We like to do that as a team. I think it's very nice to just bond everybody.”

Muguruza was initially handed a brutal first test in Dubai against recent Australian Open finalist Danielle Collins, but luck swung in her favour thanks to the late withdrawal of Greece’s Maria Sakkari on Sunday, which caused a shift in the draw.

Both Muguruza and Collins will now kick off their respective journeys in Dubai against qualifiers or lucky losers.

Not that it mattered anyway to Muguruza, who is embracing her role as the defending champion.

“To be a target, it's always good. I'd rather be a target than no one,” she stated.

Muguruza has a charming presence in press conferences, and she has been particularly open about sharing her experiences in recent months – something she hasn’t necessarily found easy to maintain in the past, when she felt hard-done by the media during her tougher times on tour.

“It is true that I had a moment where I was a little bit more closed,” she explained on Sunday.

“I felt that, yeah, I mean, not as a complaint, but I did feel the media was tough on me. Of course, they had a lot of expectations. Once you don't maybe make everyone happy, they really go behind you. It's part of the business, part of how it works.

“I was like maybe I should be a little bit more quiet, maybe just go through it.

“I think I grew thick skin now and I'm happy to share good and bad. When it's a bad tournament, bad experience, I say, ‘Listen, it was really bad’. When it's good, also share it. I'm more relaxed now about that.”

Should she successfully defend her title, Muguruza already has a plan on how she will treat herself.

“I'm a big doughnut fan. These six-pack boxes, I love that. It's a good treat,” she said with a grin.

Sounds like a solid plan!