On song, I think that Garbine Muguruza is unplayable and that even Serena at her best would not beat her, certainly not on these Roland Garros courts and, in the year she won (2016), she was as good as anyone we have seen and there will be many more majors for her. However, she is not at that level currently and in the last 15-18 months has shown a very fragile side to her game and even mental state (in tennis terms) going from well on top, to close to tears at a changeover for no real reason and back again during the course of several matches and that is always a concern. She actually won Wimbledon during that period, but that only further highlights her up and down nature . Also , I have spoken in recent seasons about her record against fellow tall players, ahead of her Wimbledon final I wrote ........... 2-2 on grass versus those who are 1.83m and on all surfaces 7-17 lifetime v opponents that tall, losing 15 of the last 20 and dropping a set in all bar one of those, actually, she has won in two sets just once in those 24 matches.  Of course, the more eagle eyed amongst you will note that she beat Venus there with a degree of ease and also Karolina Pliskova in Cincinnati shortly after, but has lost all four subsequently, so she is 9-21 now v those 1.83m plus. The last five of those meetings on clay have seen four go to three sets, the 5th to 26 games ( two tie breaks). Muguruza is 2-4 on clay v those 1.83 m +, she is 10-10 v those who are 1.78m +  and within that, 4-5 against top 50, 1-3 v top 20 which are poor numbers for one ranked as highly as she and easy to see which type of opponent the Spaniard struggles against. She is also 1-2 in quarter final matches here at RG, losing to the two taller players faced (Sharapova and Safarova, beating the shorter Shelby Rogers)

 

Despite what she said, I bet Maria Sharapova was delighted when Serena Williams withdrew, if for no reason other than her awful record h2h, however, I spoke about her great win over Pliskova in the Monday email. The Russian is the opposite to Muguruza and loves a tall opponent and is a very fine 16-7 versus those who are 1.83m + and ranked top 10, since 2009 she is 23-3 v those both 1.78m+ tall and ranked top 50 on clay, which is incredibly good and she is 3-0 against Muguruza 2-0 on clay, both on classic courts (here and Rome). Good chance for Masha and a three set battle.

 

 

 

 

 

Good Luck.