By Kieran Jackson | Sunday, June 17, 2018
Wimbledon champion Garbiñe Muguruza faces a tough test in her Birmingham opener amid a loaded field.
Photo credit: Shaun Botterill/Getty
Following a superb opening week of WTA grass-court action in Nottingham, the Tour rolls on to Birmingham with 2017 Wimbledon champion Garbiñe Muguruza the headline act amongst a plethora of top names.
Four of the world’s Top 10—Muguruza, Elina Svitolina, Karolina Pliskova and 2017 champion Petra Kvitova—are playing at the Edgbaston Priory Club this week, to compete for a title which the likes of Angelique Kerber, Li Na and Ana Ivanovic have won.
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Two-time Grand Slam champion Muguruza spoke of her eagerness to get going on a surface she has undoubtedly warmed to in recent years.
“I think that grass is a very special surface”, said the Spaniard. “It’s very unpredictable, you have to adapt quickly, but my game fits the grass courts and I’ve felt more comfortable with the years and experience on it.”
Asked if defending her Wimbledon title changed her mindset going into this year’s grass-court season, Muguruza was dismissive.
“There’s nothing really different," she said. "It’s just another grass-court season, very short and intense. Nothing really matters about what happened in 2017, it’ll come naturally and it’s all about this year.”
The 24-year-old Spaniard plays powerful Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the first round.
On the opposite side of the draw, second-seeded Svitolina faces young talent Donna Vekic in the first round. Vekic, who reached the semifinals in Nottingham last week and won the same tournament last year, seemingly flourishes on grass, and Svitolina is all too aware of the challenge she immediately faces.
“She plays well on grass and it’s going to be a good match," Svitolina said. "I’m very happy that I’m playing a good player in the early stages—we will see how it goes.”
Svitolina also emphasised that her main goal for the grass-court season was simply to come out of the stretch healthy.
“Grass can be tough on my body so being injury free [is my main goal], because the last couple of years I’ve had big issues,” said the world No. 5.
Elsewhere in a star-studded draw, third-seeded Czech Karolina Pliskova plays Magdalena Rybarikova, who reached the semifinals of Wimbledon last year after a run on the grass which brought her two ITF titles in 2017.
Last year’s champion and two-time Wimbledon winner Kvitova plays home favorite Johanna Konta in the first round, and Indian Wells champion Naomi Osaka has an intriguing opening match against British wild card Katie Boulter.
“It’s really exciting for me”, said the 21-year old Brit. “I have another big chance to test my skills against someone who’s top 20 in the world, I’m really thankful to have this opportunity and I’m looking forward to getting out there and playing.”
Monday’s order of play on the Ann Jones Centre Court opens up with Katerina Siniakova (CZE) playing Kristina Mladenovic (FRA), followed by Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) against Daria Gavrilova (AUS) and then Boulter vs Osaka and Pliskova vs Rybarikova.
Freelance sports journalist Kieran Jackson is covering the grass-court season ahead of Wimbledon for Tennis Now. For more of Kieran's tennis coverage, follow him on Twitter.