Dubai Duty Free Tennis: Garbine Muguruza “tired” of being injured, retires against Bondarenko

Garbine Muguruza admits that she is “tired” of feeling injured all the time after the Spaniard was forced to retire from her opening match in Dubai on Tuesday with an Achilles problem.

This is the second time in four tournaments contested this season that Muguruza abandoned a match, having also retired against Alize Cornet during the Brisbane semi-finals early last month with an adductor issue.

Muguruza came to Dubai after losing in the last-16 in Doha to Zhang Shuai on a rainy day where she had to play twice due to the weather-affected schedule in the Qatari capital.

The No5 seed had a bye in the first round in the Emirates and halted her match while down 1-4 against Kateryna Bondarenko on Tuesday.

“When I finished in Doha, that day that I – because of the rain, a lot of people played two matches, including me. The second one was very tough, and I remember that as soon as I went, after the match, to my room, I started to have a pain in my left Achilles,” Muguruza told reporters in Dubai.

“The next morning was even more painful. I have carried this since that day. And here, I have been training but on and off, honestly, because of the pain. Some days it was a little bit better, some days it was a little bit worse. It was just hard for me to serve, especially, and to just move side to side today on the court.”

Muguruza explained that the pain she felt is “new” and says more tests are needed to identify the exact problem.

“Personally, I don’t think it’s like something big, hopefully, but it’s very irritating and it’s really bothering me every time I have to run on the court,” added the world No7.

The reigning French Open champion’s next tournament is Indian Wells in California next month but she will first go home to Barcelona to treat her injury.

“I will probably go home, get ready, treat my Achilles, or I don’t know exactly what it is. Just to clean that zone. I don’t want to have any pain. I don’t want to go on the court with pain,” said the 23-year-old.

“In Brisbane I had pain, Australia I had pain. So I’m tired of feeling that. I want to maybe prevent (injuries) more than trying to recover after (they happen).”

Muguruza says she was pain-free during her preseason training block but the injuries appeared when she started competing in 2017. She has no particular explanation of why she is having problems so early in the season.

“I’m disappointed, because at the end, in Doha, for some conditions, didn’t – I lost to Zhang there, and then I came here and had more days, but in fact I carried the problems from Doha,” said Muguruza.

“So, yeah, I’m quite disappointed, because they are very important tournaments, Doha and Dubai together, especially here this year. I mean, I don’t know. I feel kind of, like, I don’t know, didn’t play enough, you know. My next stop is Indian Wells, and I will try my best to be ready there.”