STANFORD, CA, USA - Top seed Garbiñe Muguruza made quick work of Kayla Day in her first match back since claiming the Wimbledon crown, sweeping past the American 6-2, 6-0 at the Bank of the West Classic.
The first time this pair met at Indian Wells in March, Muguruza was surprised by the 17-year-old’s quality, dropping a tough opening set before coming back to win 3-6, 7-5, 6-2. But on Wednesday night, the World No.4 had little trouble and showed no signs of rust against the American, needing just 58 minutes to make her way into the quarterfinals.
“I think I learned a lot from that match [against Kayla in Indian Wells],” Muguruza said in her on-court interview. “I knew that it was going to be difficult, so I really trained hard and prepared. Kayla has just won the US Open in juniors and she’s just very promising, so I knew I had to be concentrated today.”
.@GarbiMuguruza races into @BOTWClassic Quarterfinals!
Defeats Day 6-2, 6-0! pic.twitter.com/iDKtzSklXk— WTA (@WTA) August 3, 2017
Muguruza played aggressively, her booming serve followed up by a forehand deep in the corner in the signature one-two punch that led her to her second Grand Slam title a month ago. She picked off the vulnerable second serve of Day, breaking the American twice in the first set before reeling off six games in a row to take the second set to love.
The top-seeded Spaniard will face No.5 seed Ana Konjuh in her next match after the young Croat moved past Natalia Vikhlyantseva in straight sets earlier in the day.
Muguruza also highlighted the confidence boost she gained from her Wimbledon title, and hopes to bring her head down from the clouds quickly enough to be a threat during the hardcourt swing.
“[Wimbledon] is just another tournament,” Muguruza said in her post-match press conference. “I know it might sound weird - because of course winning it gives me confidence - but it doesn’t mean that I’m going to come here and because I just won Wimbledon I think it’s going to be easier to win matches. It’s not at all.
“I’m just working on trying to forget what happened and just starting Stanford. Stanford is my goal, and that’s it.”