US Open 2020 : Two time Grand Slam champion Gabrine Muguruza confirms she will play the US Open
At-last there is good news for the US Open tennis beginning from Monday. Two time Grand Slam champion Garbine Muguruza ended weeks of speculation to confirm that she will play the US Open.
The two-time Grand Slam champion announced on social media she’s flying to New York City on Tuesday along with Hall of Famer and coach Conchita Martinez and physio Cathrin Junker to play next week’s US Open.
Muguruza and fellow former world No. 1 Angelique Kerber are two Grand Slam champions who opted to skip this week’s Western & Southern Open at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center and still play the US Open, which starts on Monday.
Upon arrival at the player hotel on Long Island, Muguruza and her team will all take a Coronavirus test.
Players and coaches entering the USTA’s safety bubble are tested twice within a 48-hour span on arrival. Assuming Muguruza and her team produce negative testing results she can practice on site starting on Thursday.
The 26-year-old Muguruza has contested quarterfinals or better at all five tournaments she’s played this season. At the Australian Open, Muguruza scored straight-sets wins over four straight seeds—Elina Svitolina, Kiki Bertens, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Simona Halep—before bowing to Sofia Kenin in the Melbourne final.
The 16th-ranked Spaniard’s commitment to play the US Open comes a day after both her former doubles partner, Carla Suárez Navarro, and 2017 Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko officially withdrew from the Flushing Meadows major.
The US Open has been Muguruza’s least successful major. It’s the only Grand Slam where she’s yet to reach the final. Muguruza’s best US Open result was a round of 16 appearance in 2017. A year ago, Muguruza fell in the Flushing Meadows first round to American Alison Riske.
US Open Tennis : 6 of top 8 Women tennis players have withdrawn from US Open 2020
Reigning US Open champion Bianca Andreescu of Canada, who ousted Bencic in last year’s US Open semi-finals, also declared last week she will not play in New York, joining men’s 2019 winner Rafael Nadal in skipping the tournament.
Also absent from this year’s US Open will be Australia’s top-ranked Ashleigh Barty, Ukraine’s fifth-ranked Elina Svitolina, seventh-rated Kiki Bertens and past winner Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia.
– World No. 1 Ash Barty (Australia) – Withdrawn
– World No. 2 Simona Halep (ROM) – Withdrawn
– World No. 5 Elina Svitolina (UKR) – Withdrawn
– World No. 6 Bianca Andreescu (CAN) – Withdrawn
– World No. 7 Kiki Bertens (NED) – Withdrawn
– World No. 8 Belinda Bencic (SUI) – Withdrawn
Serena Williams, seeking a 24th career Grand Slam title to match Margaret Court’s all-time record, will compete at the US Open, as will men’s world number one Novak Djokovic.
New York was one of the hardest-hit US cities when COVID-19 first spiked in March and April, a temporary hospital even being established on indoor courts at the US Tennis Center.
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