Veronika Kudermetova defeats Garbine Muguruza in Dubai

Another seed is out of the Dubai Tennis Championships with Kudermetova taking down Muguruza in a comeback win 3-6 6-4 6-4.

Garbine Muguruza is not enjoying a very good 2022 year and it became clear that her struggles travelled with her from Melbourne. In the first round, she faced a very inspired SIniakova but squeezed through after the Czech player collapsed late in the 3rd set. This time around she faced a very good Kudermetova who has been playing solid tennis since the start of the year.

The Russian demolished Azarenka in the first round easily but started this match a bit shaky. She was down 0-3 pretty early but broke Muguruza to make it 2-3. In the next game, the Spaniard once again broke her opponent to take a 5-2 lead and ultimately closed out the set with 6-3. Muguruza served exceptionally well early on hitting over 80 % of her first serves.

That number would drop as the match went on and it proved a very important factor in how the match went. Kudermetova consolidated her play in the 2nd set easily winning her service game. Her confidence grew and even on return, she was hitting some tough shots. Muguruza lost pretty much most of the 2nd serve rallies and in the final get of the set, she got broken to lose it 4-6.

The 3rd set was not very competitive. Both players dominate on her until very late in the match. Kudermetova faced 15-14 at 4-4 but held on to take a 5-4 lead. Muguruza then double-faulted on deuce and then once more on the match point to lose the match. She had six overall with her serve betraying her as the match went on.