Garbine Muguruza survives Katerina Siniakova in Dubai

Garbine Muguruza had to work really hard to reach the 2nd round of the Dubai Tennis Championships as she faced a very inspired Siniakova.

The Czech player is a very solid singles player that is capable of troubling some of the best in the world when she plays well and she played rather well today. Muguruza showed some rust after not playing for almost a month and it nearly cost her the match. Quite early on it was evident that it was going to be a rather long match with a lot of heavy-hitting.

Both players were very good from the baseline and hit some amazing shots but neither had enough consistency to pull away. The first set was a proper roller coaster as Mugurza took a 2-0 lead early on. Siniakova made it 2-2, and then pulled away taking a 5-3 lead. Muguruza avoided losing the set by saving a set point and breaking Siniakova to make it 5-5.

The first set was decided in the tiebreak as Mugurza proved a little bit better and more composed when it mattered the most. She won it with 7-5 but Siniakova stormed back in the 2nd set winning it with 6-2. Muguruza got completely outplayed by Siniakova who finally started hitting with more consistency. The final set was a proper battle with both playing well.

Muguruza eventually waited patiently for her chance and when presented with it, she took it. Siniakova faltered as the match went on and it's something that has plagued her before. She finished it off with 6-2.