Copyright © 2015. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.

Currently ranked No. 5, Garbine Muguruza had a terrific week in Wuhan, reaching the final, before retiring against Venus Williams due to an injury. Before that, she had some fine wins over Sloane Stephens, Ana Ivanovic and Angie Kerber.

After the 21 year old reached the final at Wimbledon, she had a come out party. She upset three well-known players, Kerber, Caroline Wozniacki and Aga Radwanska before she fell against No. 1 Serena Williams. The international fans finally knew who she was.

But when she arrived in the hard courts, there was too much pressure. She couldn’t just walk around anonymously, she had to stop and visit with the fans who wanted to talk to her.  Plus, many more people were watching her matches on court.  She wasn’t used to it.

Muguruza lost in the first round in Toronto and Cincinnati, and then she lost in the second round of the US Open. She admits that mentally she was flailing.

“I’m not going to lie. Once you realize, you’re like, Oh. You start to think more, people are talking about you,” she said. “It’s something I have to learn and deal. All the players have this every day.

“But for us, the younger generation, it’s difficult to be able to do that, and after be all the time constant. It’s difficult for us. We all have to learn from this, and we have to go against the wall, then learn. Because I don’t think all these things and then keep the level. It’s hard. You can do it. Well, in my case I need to also learn. So I guess that’s what happen little bit.”

Fortunately, Muguruza changed after the US Open. After Wimbledon, she let go her coach, Alejo Mancisidor. In the last three weeks, she has hired another coach, Sam Sumyk, who has worked with Vera Zvonareva, Victoria Azarenka and Genie Bouchard.

She had a fine week in Wuhan, and will play in Beijing. She is hoping to reach the WTA Final in Singapore.  If she continues to play well, she could continue with Sumyk next year.

“I’m very happy with Sam,” she said. ” We said to try this Asia swing. So far it’s going good. We have a good relation. We’ll see at the end of [China]. But for now it’s great.”

Copyright © 2015. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.