Garbiñe Muguruza will continue a dynamic start to 2020 in the desert.
The former world No. 1 has accepted a wild card into next week's Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, the tournament announced today. She is the second former top-ranked player to receive a wild card, joining Kim Clijsters, who will launch her comeback after a seven-year absence next week.
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The 26-year-old Spaniard has soared to an 11-2 start to the season, including her run to the Australian Open final where she fell to 21-year-old Sofia Kenin in a dramatic final.
“I think it’s a great start of the year, for sure,” Muguruza said. “I don’t think at all about the previous years–even the good ones or the bad ones. I feel like, ‘What for?’ I got the best out of it, good or bad.
"I just started a new year. I have a new team. I didn’t disappear. I was there. Not reaching final rounds, for sure. I’m just going to a tournament, see how far I can go.”
Two-time Grand Slam champion Muguruza reunited with former coach and 2020 Hall of Famer Conchita Martinez in the offseason. The pairing has paid immediate dividends.
The unseeded Muguruza knocked off four Top 30-ranked players, including Wimbledon champion Simona Halep fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina, reaching her first Melbourne final to leap 16 spots in the rankings to No. 16.
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