Spanish stars exited Abu Dhabi without striking a shot.
World No. 21 Paula Badosa and two-time Grand Slam champion Garbine Muguruza have both withdrawn from the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open.
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Former Indian Wells champion Badosa pulled out prior to her opener vs. Liudmila Samsonova due to a viral illness.
Injury and illness have bothered Badosa this season. She was forced to withdraw from last month’s Australian Open after suffering an abductor injury in her Adelaide quarterfinal conquest of Beatriz Haddad Maia.
The slumping Muguruza withdrew due to personal reasons.
Former world No. 1 Muguruza is mired in a six-match losing streak with her last win coming over 213th-ranked Greek qualifier Despina Papamichail at the Toray Pan Pacific Open last September. Muguruza has failed to survive the first round in three of her last four Grand Slam appearances, including an opening-round loss to 26th-seeded Elise Mertens in Melbourne Park last month.
Conceding she’s struggling for confidence and form, Muguruza told The National she’s focused on staying humble and working hard to dig her way out of a dismal stretch on court.
“I’ve had so many moments in my career where I’ve been so high, and other moments when I’ve not been so high,” Muguruza told The National. “It’s a process of trying to get back up there. Now I’m focusing on training hard and being humble.
“You have to know that maybe you haven’t had the success recently as you had in other years, but that’s fine because things can change very quickly.
“With tennis, one week it can go wrong, then next week it can go well, then everything changes again. I think experience helps me to stay calm in the not-so-good moments when I haven’t been playing as well or results haven’t followed.”
Photo credit: Getty
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