French Open 2019: Muguruza cruises past Larsson to book third-round clash with Svitolina
Garbine Muguruza put on a dominant display in the second round of the French Open 2019 Wednesday. The Spaniard completely outclassed Johanna Larsson on Suzanne Lenglen Court, securing a 6-4, 6-1 victory.
The Swede was hungry for a victory and her triumph over Rybarikova a couple of days earlier put her in a good spot to be competitive.
Both players began with solid holds of serve. However, it was Muguruza who looked more dominant at the start, securing a break of serve in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead. Muguruza consolidated the break with a good service game of her own to open up a 2-game lead.
Larsson's racquet was leaking unforced errors and this allowed Muguruza to maintain control of proceedings. Muguruza held to love in the eighth game to go up 5-3, but the Swede ensured she did not go down without a fight, holding her own serve and forcing Muguruza to serve out the set.
The former champion did not blink and held serve in the tenth to take the first set in 37 minutes.
Muguruza's aggressive game was clearly paying off, with Larsson simply unable to cope with the barrage of powerful groundstrokes flying off the Spaniard's racquet.
Larsson got off to a disastrous start in the second set, falling behind 0-30 on her own serve before committing her third double fault of the match. With unforced errors racking up, Muguruza cruised to a 3-0 lead.
She then comfortably held serve to make it 4-0 before Larsson finally got on the board with a hold of her own. However, Muguruza was simply unplayable on the day and another comfortable hold of serve put her 5-1 up.
She then hit some powerful forehand returns to race away to match point. The Swede then dumped the ball into the net to hand Muguruza the win in a match that lasted just one hour and four minutes.
Muguruza will face Elina Svitolina, who received a walkover, in the next round.