Tennis pro Garbiñe Muguruza talks about making every second count.

After a year of disruption in the sporting arena and on the eve of the Australian Open, tennis pro Garbiñe Muguruza talks about making every second count.

Time. It’s a concept that has become increasingly distorted over the past 12 months. For elite athletes, whose yearly schedules typically revolve around the same tournament dates and training windows, the difference has no doubt been even more acute. It begs the question: in a field where precision and timing is everything, how does one cope with the uncertainty?

Competing at the Abu Dhabi Open in January, former world No 1 women’s singles player and current No 15 Garbiñe Muguruza says the operative word this past year has been ‘adaptation’. A string of cancellations defined the 2020 tennis roster and, even now, it appears tournament organisers are taking a tentative approach. Speaking in the lead-up to February’s Australian Open, Muguruza says details about the event have been scarce. “So, for me, it’s about having a stronger mindset with this uncertainty of how things will be organised, and taking it more easy.” A word seldom featured in the pro sportstar’s vocabulary, ‘easy’.

Patience, too, has been a hardwon virtue in a year otherwise light on tangible prizes. “And being patient is hard, as an athlete, because we are very intense, we want results quickly and we are very active. To wait is difficult. But we’ve just had to.”

There have been some small mercies. The nature of the sport means Muguruza’s ability to train was largely unimpeded by socialdistancing regulations and, in some countries, tournaments were able to proceed in front of empty stadiums.

“Those events had a different energy because there were no crowds, and that was a challenge. I’m used to entering a big stadium such as Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne and there’s a full crowd waiting to see you, so it was a very strange feeling. But we just had to be strong and grateful that we could still compete, and hope that everyone would be back.” Suffice to say, the prospect of a half-capacity Rod Laver Arena in February is hugely encouraging to Muguruza and her fellow competitors.

“Hopefully, in another year, we will be able to look back and say, ‘Remember when there could only be 50 per cent capacity?’ Having experienced no crowd, I value things way more now. When you experience bad things, it definitely helps you value the good things.”

It’s a sentiment that conjures up Muguruza’s devastating loss to American Sofia Kenin in last year’s Australian Open women’s singles final, and the possible redemption story that this year’s tournament represents. “It is very important,” says Muguruza of the feat she’s determined to pull off in Melbourne. “I have never won it. Last year I was very close. One day, I would love to hold that trophy.”

She is circumspect about the losses that have punctuated her career, which at its highest points has seen her claim two majors: the 2016 French Open and the 2017 Wimbledon Championships, beating Serena Williams and her sister, Venus, in the respective finals.

Muguruza is resolute that her glory days are still ahead of her. “To achieve your dreams you often have to work hard for a really long time before success comes. In tennis, you invest so much energy and emotion for many years before getting anything back. It’s the challenge of fighting and not being sad if things don’t go your way. If you work hard, eventually things will go your way.

“Even when things didn’t go my way, I kept working, and then when I got the results I wanted, I felt even stronger. Sometimes I would go through three or four bad months, but I kept working. I feel this is why I won Grand Slams, because I didn’t lose sight of that.”

Muguruza also credits her support crew for lifting her up in the bad times, and sharing in the good. “I have a very good team around me, which is so important. Whenever I’ve doubted myself, they’ve pulled me up. Sportspeople are often very tough on themselves. We are demanding, we are perfectionists, and that can make us crazy sometimes.”

A perfect example of this unrelenting pressure to push herself to her limits came in 2019 when Muguruza set herself the lofty goal of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. Not officially part of her training, one can easily see how the mental and physical fortitude required might translate on the court. “So many people ask me if I did that because of tennis, but I wasn’t even thinking about tennis at the time.

“I just love challenging myself with things completely unrelated to my job because once you put yourself in those positions, and you understand your limits, you can see how much tougher you are than you might’ve thought. It increases your confidence and self-esteem, and then the next time you have a bad day you think, ‘That’s nothing’.”

When time allows, Muguruza relies on the power of retail therapy, and remembering to reward herself for a job well done.

“I grew up in a family that owned Rolex watches,” she says. Both my mum and dad had them and it was a watch that I always wanted. I especially love my mum’s watch; it’s sporty and she’s had it for 50 years. Eventually, the time came when I’d had some good results and I said, ‘Okay, I’m going to go to the store and purchase a nice and simple classic Rolex.’ I still have it and I see it as a symbol of my achievements.

“It’s something that I can touch, that I can have on my wrist and every time I look at it think, ‘I earned that with my sweat and hard work.’”

“EVEN WHEN THINGS DIDN’T GO MY WAY, I KEPT WORKING.”

GARBIÑE MUGURUZA