The 15th-ranked Garbine Muguruza is slowly but surely picking up her pace again. After a rare two-match skid, she has now won five in a row, all of which came here at the Wimbledon Open – four of the five were also straight sets.
This next meeting with Magdalena Rybarikova should be very interesting. They appear to be evenly-matched, as evidenced in their career head-to-head being deadlocked at 2-2 and two of those four matches needing extra sets.
Muguruza, who’s 27-12 on the year and 8-2 on the grass, is an attractive choice in the matchup given the consistent level of play, championship pedigree, and momentum. She’s also able to pull away for a victory regardless if she’s able to pile up stats or not. In her recent win over Svetlana Kuznetsova, she had more unforced errors and fewer winners.
Underdog Magdalena Rybarikova is continuing her Cinderella ride at The Championships. She’s shedding that no. 87 ranking away with her great run. Among her notable wins on the way to the semis was against Karolina Pliskova and Coco Vandweghe, who are both inside the top 25.
With those victories, it’s time to recognize her rising play, and understand that she won’t be a pushover to Muguruza. Keep in mind: she has already beaten her twice, with the last one being an easy 6-3, 6-1 thumping.
The 28-year-old Rybarikova is 31-6 overall on the year and an impressive 18-1 on the grass. She also has a pair of titles on such a surface just in the past several weeks.
Writer’s Prediction
It goes three sets, with Rybarikova falling just short of edging Muguruza (-240.)
