Dongfen Motor Wuhan Open

Ana’s run at the Dongfen Motor Wuhan Open stranded in the third round match as she lost to rising star Garbine Muguruza. The former world No.1 cruised through her opening two matches, but could not reproduce that level, falling short to the Spaniard in three sets.

Indeed, Ana displayed two very accomplished performances in both round one and two. She dropped just four games en route to put aside Alexandra Dulgheru and even improved that stat as she lost only three games in the second round against Madison Brengle.

Although the latter had conquered the scalp of the in-form Dominika Cibulkova in their opening round clash, Ana dominated the American from the very beginning. She whitewashed the world No. 38 in the first set and never lost command during the second, advancing to the last eight stage in 72 minutes of play.

Next up was Garbine Muguruza, who has significantly stormed the rankings over the past months and currently boasts a career-high of world No. 8 - which she achieved following reaching the final at Wimbledon Championships.

However, Ana began with great flair and unleashed a handful of sensational forehand winners to score a first breakthrough. She wrapped up the opening act 6-4 when a forehand from the Spaniard sailed wide while she was serving to stay in the set.

Thereafter, Ana had no more answer to the powerful and precise groundstrokes from Muguruza who won twelve of the next thirteen games to clinch victory.

“It was a very tough match for me, I started the match very well and played some really good tennis in the first set. I started very slow in the second set, she used her opportunities well and I felt like I was on my back foot. Even though the score was quite easy it was much more competitive than that. I had some chances to come back in the second set which I didn’t use and she played well in the big points.”

Results

R1: Ana – A. Dulgheru (WTA-55)     6-1, 6-3

R2: Ana – M. Brengle (WTA-38)       6-0, 6-3

R3: Ana – G. Muguruza (WTA-8)     6-4, 1-6, 0-6