MELBOURNE • Having scaled Africa's highest mountain during the off-season, former world No. 1 Garbine Muguruza hopes to reach new heights at the Australian Open after tumbling down the world rankings last year.
The Venezuela-born Spaniard made another determined push at Melbourne Park yesterday, heaving herself out of a mid-match slump against Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic to reach the third round with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win at Rod Laver Arena.
The bright start at the year's first Grand Slam follows a disappointing finish to her 2019 season which saw her dumped out of the first round at Wimbledon and the US Open.
The 26-year-old cut her season short, swopped her rackets for crampons and headed to Tanzania with a friend to climb 5,895m Mount Kilimanjaro, a five-day expedition in which she scaled cliffs, waded through icy rivers and slept through bitterly cold nights.
"It was a very hard challenge, completely different to what I do," said Muguruza, now ranked world No. 32. "You're climbing that mountain and it's only you. You don't get any award, any prize, any photo, nothing up there.
"I really like the experience to see myself in the middle of nowhere and, yeah, just having one clear thought - just to keep climbing."
Once one of the WTA Tour's most feared competitors and the only player to beat both Serena and Venus Williams in Slam finals, Muguruza has gradually fallen off the radar.
Following her 2017 Wimbledon triumph, the second of her two Major titles, she reached the last four at the 2018 French Open, but has not had a similar deep run since.
She parted ways with her long-time coach Sam Sumyk in July and ended her season outside the top 20 for the first time since 2014.
The new year began with a touch of pessimism after the 2016 French Open champion pulled out of Hobart in the lead-up to Melbourne Park with a viral illness.
The lack of match practice told as she lost the opening set 6-0 in her first-round clash against qualifier Shelby Rogers before steamrolling the American 6-1, 6-0 later.
Now re-united with former mentor Conchita Martinez, the first Spanish woman to win Wimbledon, Muguruza has yet to produce her vintage best in Melbourne, but her fighting spirit was enough to deal with Tomljanovic.
"Like everybody, you work hard. You put the hours (in)," she said of her joy at the hard-fought win. "Nothing is guaranteed, so you really appreciate the moment."
REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
