NEW YORK—As pre-tournament favorites go, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal haven’t exactly impressed in their first two matches at the US Open, while Alexander Zverev crashed out in the second round. Meanwhile, Garbine Muguruza, the consensus favorite on the women’s side, has somehow managed to exceed prognosticators’ lofty expectations.
The world No. 3 has lost just nine games over three rounds, winning two bagel sets in the process. But her 6-1, 6-1 third-round victory over Magdelena Rybarikova was most impressive of all. The breadstick bombardment was the exact same margin by which Muguruza defeated Rybarikova—a crafty player who, on the right day, can disarm anyone—in the Wimbledon semifinals.
“Playing somebody in the third round that you play in semifinals, you know, it’s a little bit tough match, and I just learn of what I did there,” a gracious Muguruza said afterward. “Go forward, try to hit some big shots and big serves.”
Big shots and big serves have resulted in big trophies for Muguruza this summer. She’s 19-2 since the beginning of Wimbledon, where she won her second career Grand Slam titles. Her only losses since then have been to Madison Keys and Elina Svitolina, and she won the prestigious Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati with lopsided victories over world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova—6-3, 6-2—and world No. 2 Simona Halep—6-1, 6-0.
“I feel I improve a lot as a tennis player,” Mugurza said after her latest dismissal of Rybarikova. “You know, the summer has been great, and I’m playing a lot of matches. So the fact that I played so much matches gives me, you know, gives me pretty good confidence.”