SHENZHEN, China - The first woman to book her place in the semifinals at the Shenzhen Open is Garbiñe Muguruza, after the No.6 seed needed a shade over two hours to move past Zarina Diyas in three sets, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
The two-time Grand Slam champion won four of the last five games in the first set, and eight of the last nine points in the match, to seal victory in her first-ever match against the Kazakh No.3, snapping Diyas' seven-match winning streak to begin the 2020 season.
"I was expecting a very tough match, and at the end, it was," Muguruza said. "I think she came out in the second set playing much better. I just kept competing and I'm happy with these kind of victories."
An ace to close out the victory 💥 and @GarbiMuguruza is the first player into the #ShenzhenOpen semifinals! 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 over Diyas. pic.twitter.com/EHLlfpMQ3v
— WTA (@WTA) January 9, 2020
After serving 10 aces in her second-round victory against American Shelby Rogers, the Spaniard's serve was again firing over the course of her quarterfinal match.
The World No.35 hit 13 aces in the win, including seven in the final set, to advance to a semifinal meeting against No.5 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.
"So far I’m happy," Muguruza reflected upon her week thus far. "I’ve played two matches and hopefully I’ll have two more to play. It’s my first tournament of the year. I just want to feel good and to play these matches.
"I did a good pre-season. I worked very hard. There’s not a secret to success. When you work hard, in the end things will pay off. Stay there when things don’t go well and keep fighting through. Good things will come."
