Muguruza, after French exit: 'I think I'm going to feel much better'

Garbine Muguruza says she is relieved to be done with the pressure of defending her French Open title, despite her frustration following a fourth-round defeat to Kristina Mladenovic.

Muguruza acknowledged she had been affected by the partisan French crowd during the match, gesturing to them when she received some boos while walking off the court.

In her post-match press conference, she became tearful and had to leave to collect herself before returning to answer more questions. The 23-year-old said the crowd "should be a little bit more respectful," though adding that she is 'super happy' to play the event.

Muguruza, who has not won a tournament since capturing her first Grand Slam at the 2016 French Open, suggested her play might improve now that she will stop getting frequent questions about her title defense.

"I'm actually happy that this [portion] of the year is done," she said. "I wanted to go as far as possible, but even if I didn't, I think I'm going to feel much better now... everybody is going to stop bothering me, asking me about this tournament, so it's going to be a little bit like, 'Whew, let's keep going.'"

A former finalist at Wimbledon, the big-hitting Spaniard will now turn her attention to the grass-court tournaments and says she likes playing big events despite the pressure they bring.

"Wimbledon seems far now for me. But like I said, I played final there," she said. "You know, I feel like I kind of am made for these tournaments. You know, in a way, I love going out there and perform. I rather play in these courts even if not everybody is in my side, because I feel like that's what I train for."

Muguruza is currently No. 5 but will drop below the Top 10 in next week's rankings.